Knowing the past, writing the future
by FreakingOutGirl
Summary: Orihime and Ichigo are adults now, but how they became who they are now? And what happens when Orihime feels her reiatsu being stolen? Through episodes from the past, we will enter in their present life and learn about what the future holds for them...
1. Chapter 1  Dropping Reiatsu

**This is my second story about Bleach, but it's my first multi-chapter in English, so please, correct me, but don't be too harsh about my grammar, since English is not my native language.  
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**I don't own Bleach, Ichigo or Orihime (such a pity!)**

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 1 – Dropping Reiatsu<span>**

Chapter's music: Between Two Lungs – Florence and the Machine

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><p>Kurosaki Ichigo was a strong, powerful man; the long battles he fought made him grow up quicker than many of his acquaintances, but in that moment, he felt like a helpless baby, just watching the horror happening in front of his eyes.<p>

Orange was the first color he saw when he opened his eyes, regaining his conscious; but it was no ordinary orange: it was surrounded by a halo of light that he knew too well, a halo of light that wasn't healing the man, but protecting him. He could feel her reiatsu dropping with each second, which he found weird, because she could fight alongside him now, but before he could rethink about it, the light disappeared and the orange color flew through the air, mixing with a shocking red when it crushed against a wall.

For a moment the whole place fell under a spell of silence, but then, the most unthinkable sound was heard…

Laugh, that was what escaped from his mouth, a high chuckle, but not of joy or happiness… it was a maniacal laugh, a demented one, which made his enemy step back, with fear in his eyes.

- You are so dead! – whispered him, with deadly purpose, looking his enemy directly in the eyes. For a moment, his eyes lingered on the orange color against the wall, but fueled by its vision, his eyes sparkled with a sense of revenge that could bring Heaven and Hell to its knees. He put a small object made of wood against his chest, and approaching the enemy in his shinigami body, Kurosaki Ichigo just exploded. He flew, more than ran, simultaneously taking his zanpaktou from his back and slicing the monster. It screamed and tried to fight, but this man's wrath was too much to support. Cutting like crazy, he didn't think that he would be purifying that soul… no, he wanted it to rot in hell. And when it disappeared, he kept slicing the air, until his arms felt the exhaustion and his sword fell. Then, like a ton of bricks, the reality caught up with him and he looked behind. She didn't move through the fight…

- Please, you have to be ok! – he begged, falling to his knees. His trembling hand reached her orange hair and turned her face towards him – Orihime, wake up! Wake up, damn! Are you listening! – he tried to keep his voice commanding, but with each second, it got lower and lower, until only a pleading murmur could be heard falling from his lips.

Blood kept escaping from her scalp and he tried, without any positive consequence, to keep it inside her body, with his hands.

For him felt like hours, decades, but was only minutes until she stirred a little, and his eyes lit up with hope. He brought her against his chest and carrying her, bridal style, and his human body over his shoulder, flew through the roofs, in the direction of the night sky.

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><p>The candy shop was closed, at least, for an outsider, but Ichigo knew better: the only person who could help him was inside and no door would keep him from his purpose: save Orihime. Kicking it, he stepped inside, yelling, and seconds later, his request was attended when a man, with a stripped hat and a fan, appeared from a door in the very end of the long corridor.<p>

- Kurosaki-san! – he said, approaching, with his sandals' sound echoing through the silent shop. His eyes fell to the body in the man's arms and he immediately pointed out a room for her. Ichigo almost ran to the room and laid her on the futon, where the blonde was already making some arrangements. He put his own human body on a corner, not really worried about it, and kept his eyes on the blonde's hands, that were roaming over Orihime's body, while he kept chanting something so quiet, that Ichigo couldn't understand. It wasn't the first time he got angry with himself for not learning how to perform kiddo to heal, but it was the first time Orihime was in peril because of it. Usually, it was him who needed that treatment, and she would always be there, with her worried smile, watching her fairies bring him back to her…

- Fuck! – he swore, while grabbing his wild orange hair and pulling it. He started pacing, when a small voice entered his clouded mind, bringing an abrupt stop to his continuously ranting of curses.

- You shouldn't swear…

His breath stopped and when he looked towards her, she was smiling, with her eyes open and shining and even if her clothes were bloody and dirty, and Urahara was still watching her, worriedly, she never looked more beautiful.

- Shit, you scared the hell out of me – he said, while Orihime giggled: he just couldn't stop himself. He stepped closer and dropped over his knees, analyzing her skin, where red spots could be seen. Urahara got up and left the room, with a frown distorting his features.

- Sorry, I don't know what happened… In a moment everything was alright, I knew that I could defeat him without any problem and then, in the next one, I felt my reiatsu dropping like crazy… It was so weird… - said Orihime, thinking about the last moments before falling unconscious.

- That's okay, now what I have to do is getting you home – Ichigo said, extending a hand in her direction. She accepted it and got up, from the floor, looking with a frown towards the blood on the futon.

- You're right… my husband won't like if I stay out until too late – she answered, while dusting off her clothes.

- And he is right – said Ichigo, with a smile – A girl like you can't be on the streets at this hour of the night, some tug might come and take you away…

Orihime made a sarcastic sound, pouting and bumping against his shoulder, left the room. She could hear Urahara's voice from another room and popping her head in, she saw the man with Yoruichi, Tessai, Jinta and Ururu playing cards.

- Goodnight, everyone and thank you, Urahara-san! – she said, with a gentle smile, while Ichigo, behind her, just waved his hand. He walked in front of her and opened the door for the still pouting woman.

She walked through the streets, under the orange head's watchful eyes, until she stopped in front of a gate. Fishing a key from her pocket, she opened the gate and walked inside the garden. It was full with different flowers, one smelling more delicious than the other. The house, behind a luxurious bush, was white pearl, under the moonlight, with two storeys and a balcony. Orihime inserted another key on the door and walked inside.

- Your husband must be an awesome man – Ichigo said, following her to the kitchen. He sat at the table, playing with an apple while watching her open the fridge and taking a bottle of water.

- Oh, yes, but he can be really overprotective and annoying and stubborn too… – she said, while opening the bottle with a smile.

- Poor man, having those things said about him… - sighed Ichigo, while rising up and walking towards Orihime. He grabbed her waist, making her giggle and held her against his chest – You really scared me back there, you know?

- I know, and I'm sorry, I really don't understand what happened – whispered Orihime, afraid of breaking the moment with her voice. Ichigo kissed her hair and turning her around, kissed her lips, slowly but passionately.

- Your husband must be really sad right now, he almost lost his girl tonight – murmured Ichigo, against her cheek, while kissing it.

- Don't worry, he will live! But now, let's have some fun – replied Orihime, grabbing Ichigo's hand and pulling him behind her. He smiled mischievously and followed her towards the bedroom. When they got there, she started yawning like there was no tomorrow and with a disappointed sight, Ichigo made her go under the covers, ignoring her protests and vigorous hands that tried to pull his clothes off.

- Goodnight, silly girl – he whispered, against her hair, while she nuzzled her face in his chest.

- Goodnight, husband – she replied with a sleepy voice and a moment later was lightly snoring.

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><p><strong>So, what do you think?<strong>

**Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2 Worries

**Chapter 2 – Worries**

Strawberry Swing - Coldplay

(_Italics_-flashback)

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><p>"So, Orihime-san just lost like that?" asked a bewildered Quincy, while, beside him, the silent giant just nodded his head.<p>

"Yes, I went there, this morning, to talk with Ichigo about our next trip to Soul Society and he told me that. But, I didn't see her, apparently, she was still asleep… And for what he told me, Urahara-san's expression made him even more worried…"

Sado's deep voice filled Ishida's office, while the listener nibbled his lips in concentration.

Ishida's mind was telling him that something was wrong and if even Kurosaki was worried, it meant it wasn't just his imagination. It wasn't the first time he felt Orihime's reiatsu dropping; actually, it has been happening a lot lately, but nothing so serious like last night. Nothing that could have made him worried, until now…

"Sado…"he started, without knowing how to say what was on his mind, which was a first, so he wouldn't scare his gigantic friend.

"I know… I felt it too" Sado said, knowing what was on Ishida's mind. "Last week, when we fought that hollow near the library, her reiatsu flicked for a moment, but when I asked if everything was alright, she just flushed and said that she didn't sleep last night…" explained Sado, while recalling all too well the episode. Behind them Ichigo got a little uncomfortable, which Sado didn't see, but felt, with his reiatsu flaring a bit and, in that moment, he thanked his tanned skin for hiding his mortification: he could imagine what made his oldest friend react that way and didn't want to think about his best friends in those activities. "And I never thought about it ever since…"

Silence fell over the place for a long time, and was still there when Sado bid his farewell and left the office, without thinking of a destination, leaving Ishida with his own thoughts on the matter. At that time, the hospital was buzzing with activity and the crowd of patients, doctors, nurses and relatives could be overwhelming, but thanks to his stature he could walk, without his mind on his present position, thinking about what might be happening to the healer and how that would affect, not only her husband, but all of their friends that always counted with her powers and presence.

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><p>Orihime stretched her limbs and yawned loudly, when the sunlight touched her closed eyes. She felt so relaxed in that bed, that if it wasn't for her flower shop, she would stay there the entire day. Finally opening her eyes, she peeked to the other side of the bed and found it empty, which was odd: Ichigo always wakes up after her, pleading to stay just a little bit more on the comfy place. Glancing at the watch, she found herself with her mouth wide open: it wasn't Ichigo that woke up early… it was almost two o'clock…<p>

Jumping from the bed and grabbing her towel from a nearby chair, she ran towards the bathroom, until an arm snaked past her, coming from nowhere and grabbed her waist, making her stop.

"Wha…" Orihime started when she felt another arm grab her and push her behind, against a hard, but warm surface.

"No, you won't!" said Ichigo's voice from behind her. "You took too much damage yesterday and must stay in bed for, at least, 24 hours!"

She could feel the hard surface moving when he spoke and breath, and vibrate when he saw her pouting mouth.

"Urahara-san didn't say anything about that…" she retorted, trying to snake her escape from his arms.

"I never said he did" said Ichigo, cheekily. Orihime crossed her arms and turned around, to look at his face, but the sight she saw just made her crack up and giggle like crazy.

"Pink suits you" she said, while eyeing her very manly husband with a flowery and pink apron, the one she used last night to make dinner. Ichigo blushed a little, but didn't get sidetracked from his point.

"Yes, I know, but that's not the point! Today you won't go into work. The shop can survive one day closed and you need your rest! I asked for a free day from the station and since I'm their best investigator and chief of department, they let me go…" Ichigo said, before Orihime could have a chance to retort about his own work.

The woman humpfed and crossed her arms, feeling like a misbehaved child. Ichigo made her turn around and pushed her towards the bedroom, while he directed himself to the kitchen. Not wanting to stay in bed all day, Orihime started her daily work making the room a little more presentable: she opened the huge window, letting the view of the garden under the balcony fill her vision and the smells from the flowers invade her senses, feeling in peace with the world outside, even if the most important thing in her world was acting like she was made of porcelain and could crack under the slightest pressure. Grabbing the dirty clothes from the basket, she made her way towards the basement, where was the washing machine, tiptoeing so Ichigo wouldn't hear her.

"What did I tell you? Go to bed!" he ordered, while taking the basket from her hands and taking her route as his own. She sighed with exasperation, knowing that at least for the next hours he would be like a mother hen…

While she sat at her bed, ready to be bored out of her mind, her eyes caught the spark of a metallic surface, under the afternoon sun. She grabbed the framed photograph and looked at herself, after winning the tracking race in her school's cultural festival. She had her arm on top of Tatsuki-chan's shoulder, their heads pushed together, so everyone could fill the capture. Ichigo's scowl was in place, while Keigo-kun's hand was grabbing his arm and pushing him up front. Yasutora-kun sent a shadow over them, making him kneel beside her; Uryuu-kun was, in all his elegance and Quincy grace, right behind Tatsuki… But then, the reason that made her train and got that place invaded her happier memories.

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><p><em>Kurosaki-kun could say whatever he wanted, but Orihime knew that she was in his way again, being a nuisance. And the worst was that she attacked him! For a person that messed up with her memories! A person that took everything she held dear and used for his own benefits! A person that made her forget her brother Sora, that looked after her, even after his death; and how she felt about Kurosaki Ichigo, the man she would love for five lifetimes and more.<em>

_She couldn't look him in the eyes so, when, in that chilly morning, he greeted her, she bowed her head, but didn't looked up, missing the deepening of his scowl._

_At lunch, she kept herself with the girls, even if Chizuro-chan and Tatsuki-chan fighting made her sad, and when the school was over, she walked, not in her home's direction, but to a candy shop, owned by a madman with blonde hair and more brains that should be acceptable._

_"Oh! Inoue-san! I'm glad you've come to my wonderful place, but why are you here? Is there something wrong?" Urahara asked, while eyeing her, like he already knew what she came to ask. And knowing the former captain, he probably did._

_Orihime scratched the back of her neck, a habit she developed after meeting Kurosaki-kun and always appeared when she was embarrassed._

_"Well..." she breathed deeply and said "I want you to train me, like you did with Kurosaki-kun! I don't want to be the weakling! I don't anyone messing with my memories ever again! Please, Urahara-san!" she bowed, respectfully and Urahara Kisuke smiled sadly._

_"Even if I don't like to think about you in a fight, I will do what you asked me, but please, remember that your powers are different from Kurosaki-san's, and that I don't know everything about them..."_

_"So you know something, right?" she interrupted, in a hopefully tone._

_Kisuke sighed; the girl was too stubborn and too smart for her own good. And even knowing he was going to regret it, when Ichigo's wrath fell over his head, he nodded, making the girl clap her hands and jump, with joy._

_The next day, she went, after work, to Urahara's shop to start her training. Starting with something that Inoue dreamt about being capable of doing, shunpo, Kisuke found his first obstacle... She could control her reiatsu, better then Ichigo and Sado and at the same level that Ishida, but, for some odd reason she just couldn't work out the ways of shunpo and after some minutes of hard thinking, which left Inoue wondering when smoke would rise from the blonde's head, he smiled towards her, with a glint of something that left Inoue a little creeped out: he looked at her like a scientist would look at a specimen in a table, ready to cut it open..._

_"Stop with that stupid grimace, you're scaring her!" came a female voice from behind him. They both turned to wave in Yoruichi's direction, that was seated, legs crossed, over a rock, watching the human girl training. She could feel Urahara's disposition changing and knew that he found out something new about Inoue's powers, something that would make him smile like a maniac._

_"I'm sorry, Inoue-san, but I think... Well, it's more like I know, why you can't shunpo like the others... Your powers are very special, very unique, and your way of rejecting things is the special trick that will make you able of transporting yourself at high speed... just like if you used shunpo..._

_"So I have to reject... what?" she asked, confused, and for Yoruichi's expression, she wasn't the only one._

_"Yourself..."_

_"What?" said two voices, one yelling, that belonged, obviously to Yoruichi and a second one in a doubtful tone._

_- Well well, I didn't mean cease of existing; it's more like rejecting her position to another place... But then could she choose that other place? - Urahara started mumbling, without taking a look at those two females. He fell to the floor, arranging himself in a comfortable position, crossed his legs and scratched his chin, without stopping the murmurs._

_Yoruichi sighed and told Orihime to start running to improve her stamina._

_In the end of half hour of running, Urahara clapped his hands and made Inoue stop. She breathed in relieve and approached him._

_"Well, this is what we are going to do" he told her. She looked at him with her full attention, almost jumping on him to know what he discovered._

_"You have to connect with your little friends and tell them what you want to do, you will need a maximum connection with them, they have to be able of knowing your desires and act as their own, without you always saying out loud where you want to go. This way, if everything works as I expect, they will be able of transport yourself to a different place, but a place where you've been before... Like they were rejecting time itself..."_

_"But if I need to go somewhere I've never been?" asked Inoue, worried about those conditions._

_"That's a problem you have to work out with them... Hum... Maybe..." Urahara started, with a new glint in his eyes "maybe they could reject not you, but rearrange your molecular being and regroup it to another place, like... Travelling in light's speed... Yes, that could work, they would reject you, transport you and then reject the rejection, got it?" he asked, looking around. Yoruichi was yawning and Orihime's head was spinning._

_"What if I got lost? What if my molecules just go through the air, flying way... Into the outer place and be caught by a space ship..."_

_"Well, you could always found a way of them being able to reject you to any place you desire, but that's something you have to work out with them..." interrupted Urahara, before the girl could lost her attention into her wild imagination. He looked a little disappointed, like seeing the girl's molecules regroup was a long lost dream. Yoruichi smacked him in the back of the head and rolled her eyes._

_Orihime nodded and concentrating, called her fairies, that in six flashes of light appeared in front of her._

_"Did you hear everything?"_

_"Yes" started Tsubaki, with his little hands on his hips "and the last idea was the worst thing ever!" Turning around to look at Urahara, he kept his tirade "What do you think we are? Some weird machine in one of those fancy laboratories? Geez, and they say you're smart! You're dumber than that carrot top boy!"_

_"That's enough!" Orihime's voice echoed over the little one's rant. "Urahara-san is helping me and it's disrespectful talk like that about him!" Tsubaki blushed and looked towards the ground. Even if he was hot tempered and annoying, his mistress was the most important thing in his life and feeling that he disappointed her, made him ashamed of himself. Orihime smiled sadly and patted his head, telling him, without words that everything was all right. He mumbled an incomprehensible apology and sat on the girl's shoulder._

_"Well, what we were trying to say" said Lily "was that we know how to make Orihime-san travel using her powers. And we used some of Urahara-san's idea" he smirked, making Tsubaki greet his teeth. "If Orihime-san could reject her position not to a past one, but to a future one, she would be able of travelling to wherever she wanted."_

_"And how can I do it?"_

_"Well, if you concentrate in viewing yourself in another position, in the future, don't matter if you get there running, climbing or in Kurosaki-san's back" Orihime flushed "you will be able of getting there. You just need to have absolute certainty that you will be able of reaching that place, don't worry about the means, and then with that motivation, in some point in the future you will reach that point. What we do is reject your position to that place..." explained Lily, with a smile._

_Orihime's face transformed from a confused frown to a large smile, while she clapped her hands._

_"You are absolutely amazing!" she complimented, while Tsubaki showed his tongue to a blonde and former captain that just nodded his approval._

_With all that information in mind, Orihime started training like there was no tomorrow. During the first attempts, she found herself more times with her face on the ground than properly in another place, but at least she was trying... And at the end of the day, she could already change her position... to three meters apart from her previous one, but like her fairies constantly said: she made some progress!_

_For the next days, she kept her routine of going to Urahara-san's training grounds, where, with or without him, kept working, not only rejecting her position but also working her other powers. She knew that she should ask for Hachigen-san's help, but if the Vizards knew about her training they would tell Kurosaki-kun and he would be mad at her, telling her that his job was to protect her and not the other way around. And she had a feeling that Urahara-san didn't want to tell Kurosaki-kun about their practices any more than her._

_Exactly four days after her first try, Orihime finally found the right amount of concentration, visualization and imagination and she understood that imagining herself like a futuristic robot wouldn't help her getting to the right place. After ten remarkably done tries, she was finally convinced that she had mastered the technique; she just had to figure out if during a fight her mind could come up with the right amount of power to keep her from disappearing into the opposite direction..._

_Two week later, she found herself running like she was being chased by a horde of hollows, but behind her were just her classmates and two other classes' students, staring mouth wide-open at her speed: she really had to thank Urahara-san for his training. In front of her was the boy she wanted to suppress. Speeding up and passing through Tatsuki-chan, Sado-kun and Ishida-kun, who were right behind him, she caught up with him and with a giggle, she provoked him: "Why so slow?" Kurosaki-kun stared at her, like he couldn't believe and she felt herself swell up with pride. If she wanted to change his perspective of her, she had to start somewhere and why not by showing off how much faster she was? And then, something happened that made the different classes that were having gym to stop and stare: Kurosaki Ichigo smiled! "You're on!" he said and their race started. When, in the end, Ichigo won, Orihime could feel that even losing she had win something way bigger than a race: his eyes sparkled with something that made her smile and she was certain that Kurosaki-kun was starting to realize that she changed more than the eyes could meet._

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><p>When the day ended, and Ichigo fell over the bed without taking his ridiculous apron, beside Orihime, she laughed seeing his tired face and his pink cloth.<p>

"See, I could have done something to help you! Now you are more dead than alive…" she said in a complacent tone, like a teacher lecturing her favorite student.

"Yeah, yeah. I know you can do it, but when I made that promise twelve years ago, I meant it. And even if I broke it because of some fucking bastards" Ichigo inhaled deeply, trying to suppress his rage. "I won't break it because of your stubbornness! And besides, I thought you wanted to be perfectly fine for our trip to Soul Society next week…"

Orihime smiled, thinking about that journey. It has been a while since she saw her friends, Rukia-chan, Rangiku-chan, Renji-kun and even Toshiro-kun, even if he always yelled at her for calling him that. All the shinigamis were like an extended family; she knew all of them and healed a great percentage of those warriors in past battles, when no one could do anything for them, even the 4th Squad. She felt a sense of pride filling her, when she thought about those moments when her powers were the only thing stopping death from taking her friends. When the woman looked to her right, she saw the smug smile on her husband lips and shoved him playfully.

"You're impossible!" she complained, while turning her back on him to hide her smile. His arms winded around her waist and she felt his breath on her hair, making goose bumps appear on her skin.

"No, I'm just an overprotective asshole, who can't live without his air-headed wife's cooking skills…" he whispered, trailing her neck with kisses.

"Even if those first times you had to go to the hospital?" she replied, feeling her heart rate increase exponentially, while she tried to suppress a moan.

"Well, after that you really restrained your wild imagination… in the kitchen" Ichigo was nibbling her hear and she couldn't hold back herself anymore. Turning around, she pinned him against the mattress and smiled innocently, making him gulp, while his eyes burned with lust and desire. God, he loved that woman!

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><p>"Hey, what's going on?" asked the black-haired woman, when her husband entered the house with a worried expression on his face.<p>

"Nothing" he replied, while kissing her pouting mouth. "Just a patient that I thought would be okay by now and he wasn't…"

"You're an awful liar, you know? But I won't push you, you know I will find out one way or another…" she said, with a self-satisfied smile.

"Ishida-san!" they both turned when an unexpected visitor appeared behind their still open door.

"Stupid man, I told you lots of time: do not suppress your reiatsu! We like to know when someone is going to knock on our door so we could just ignore it!" yelled the woman, while showing him her fist.

Urahara simply moved his fan to hide his smirk and made himself at home, in their couch.

"Easy, Tatsuki!" warned Uryuu, when he saw her fuming expression. She released her breath and sat at the opposite couch, looking pointedly at Urahara.

"So, what brings you here? I hope you didn't come just to antagonize my wife…" - said Uryuu, seating beside Tatsuki and grabbing her fisted hand.

"I hope you know about the last developments in Kurosaki-san's life?" started Urahara, looking at Ishida.

"What?" asked Tatsuki, eyes flashing in her husband's direction.

"Is something wrong with Orihime? Is that the reason you're upset? Is she ok? Or is it about Ichigo? What the jerk has gotten himself into this time?" her voice raised with each word until Uryuu cringed beside her, not wanting to disturb her even more by getting up. He hoped he could find out more about the subject before bringing it up, in the most peaceful demeanor he could think of, to his hot-tempered wife, who would beat him into a pulp if something happened to her best friend/ sister.

"It's Orihime – san…" Uryuu started, when his wife, breathing deeply, finally closed her mouth. "Her reiatsu has been a little inconstant for the past days… and we are a little worried about that, Sado talked to me this morning and said that he felt it too, so it's not just me overreacting and he said that Kurosaki felt it too… and if that idiot could sense it…"

"Well, Kurosaki-san is really in tune with our beloved healer, so I wouldn't go that road" replied Urahara.

"But I can't disagree with you in your other points, perhaps this is just from being tired, I heard she wears her powers a lot at that lovely shop, so maybe it's just that, but if it isn't, we should be prepared for anything…" he concluded, in a dark tone, that made the Ishida couple shiver.


	3. Chapter 3 Koten Kisshun

**Chapter 3- Koten Kisshun**

Chapter's Music: Faster by Matt Nathanson

_Italics-flashback  
><em>

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><p>The sun rose behind closed curtains, illuminating a strip of pale and tanned skins, orange hair and blue sheets. Two bodies flopped on the warm bed, so tangled in each other that no one knew where started one and ended the other.<p>

The woman, with pale skin, was the first one to wake up. She tried to stretch her limbs, without disturbing her husband, but the man had his arms over her and one of his legs in the middle of hers. As soon as she stirred, his eyelids fluttered and opened.

"Good morning" Orihime greeted, when Ichigo tried to shield his eyes from the sunlight with her hair. She pushed it out-of-the-way and he shut them more forcefully.

"Hey" he replied, not bothered enough to move from his position.

"We have to go to work today" she said, in a firm tone. "My flowers probably missed me yesterday… and Kinomoto-san said she would pass there today to grab some tulips for her daughter, it's her birthday, you know…"

Ichigo just nodded, but made no move to get up. Feeling a little playful, Orihime jumped from beneath his arms and pushed the sheets aside, making the room's cold atmosphere hit him fully. Ichigo shuddered and groaned Orihime's name, while trying to snatch the sheets from her vicious hold. The young woman laughed good-naturedly and escaped from his wandering hands, wrapping the sheet around her body. Skipping out of the room, she headed to the kitchen, leaving the shinigami behind grumbling under his breath about mean wives and their misdeeds against their poor innocent husbands.

When he finally appeared in the kitchen, with his hair wet from the bath and still buttoning up his shirt, the table was already filled with a huge variety of food and even if she was a mean wife that morning, Ichigo couldn't suppress his moan of pleasure at that sight. Stepping from behind the fridge's door she smiled and Ichigo had to remember himself that he was an important person at his job and couldn't miss another day…

Dragging the sheet behind her, Orihime made her way to the table and sat comfortably in front of a steamy cup of tea, without realizing how she affected her husband's ability of thinking rationally. He pinched himself and sat at the opposite chair, nibbling his food, but without realizing what it was. When the plate was clean, he got up mechanically, looking more like a robot than a human and headed for the front door, leaving his wife with a confused expression on her face. She heard the door opening, but didn't hear it closing and two seconds later Ichigo appeared in the kitchen again. He grabbed her and pushed her against his chest, kissing her eagerly. The sheet fell to the floor and he could feel her flustered skin against his hands.

"Damn, you're going to be the death of me!" he cursed, when stepped back to admire the view. The woman blushed and grabbed the sheet, shoving him toward the front door. Before he closed the door, his head popped in again and he stole a kiss from her, leaving with a bigger smile than he would normally do.

Orihime backed against the wall for support, before a giggle spell fell over her, just like a school girl. Even if they were married for years now, that man didn't cease to surprise her. But when she made her way to the kitchen, something grabbed her attention: a blue bag, which she knew contained her husband's bento box, was laying innocently at the first step of the stairs; probably with his impulsive return to the kitchen, Ichigo forgot about it altogether. She knew he was too far away by now, always in a hurry, so she put it near her own lunch and planned on dropping it at his job during her break.

* * *

><p>The shop smelt like something was rotting inside, not a strong smell, just a lingering one, but for Orihime's accurate sense it made all the difference. She walked, following her olfactory sense, until she found a bouquet of daisies, dying. She looked behind her, making sure that the door was still closed, and calling Ayame and Shun'ō, she drew her golden dome over the delicate beings. She did that, not for the money she would save, but because she couldn't see anything suffer, not even those small and simple flowers. She could feel their life surrounding her, like a warm blanket that she had as a child and always protect her. When the flowers were shining like new, she opened the door and started cleaning the dust from the floor. After that, she grabbed one of the biggest vases there, probably with fifty pounds, full with a luxurious green bush and dragged it to the shop sidewalk. After more three vases like that one, she was already sweating, but proud with her accomplishment.<p>

And that was when she felt it.

It wasn't the first time, no… the first time was some weeks ago, when she was alone and heard a child-like scream. She ran to the nearest park and found a small boy, being attacked by a hollow. The innocent spirit was crying and when he saw her, ran to her, grabbing her legs and hiding behind her. For some seconds, she felt like she was going to pass out: she couldn't find her powers, her reiatsu was missing and she was moments from dying, but then, getting a hold of herself, she pushed her fears aside, steadied her heart and called her fairies, taking care of the hollow without any problem. Seconds later, Karakura's official shinigami appeared and presenting her with a smile and a thank you, preformed kenso and sent the spirits to Soul Society. And from then on, it happened more times. She knew that Yasutora-kun was aware of that, he even asked her about it, but she created some excuse, embarrassing her and Ichigo in the process. And, if their gigantic friend realized it, probably Uryuu-kun knew about it too…

Feeling another presence near her, Orihime looked up and saw a thin and gigantic look-alike human, standing at her shop rooftop, but she knew better now. It was looking at her with a predatory smile, showing his long dagger-like teeth, flexing his abnormally big legs that surpassed his head at that position and just ready to jump. Her reiatsu kept flowing away from her grasp, feeling like something or someone was stealing it. So, breathing deeply, she called all of her strengths and concentrate in keeping her energy inside her body. When she felt it coming to her again, she sighed, relieved and opened her mouth to start her attack.

"Koten Kisshun" she murmured and Tsubaki, Ayame e Shun'ō flew from her hairpins toward the hollow. Tsubaki cut through him, leaving a hole where Shun'ō and Ayame created their shield and started rejecting the hollow transformation. When they were done, he was just another spirit, waiting for his time to be purified.

She could remember clearly the first time she used that technique, the one that always made her more proud of herself, being able of help a suffering spirit reach its peace.

* * *

><p><em>At the end of her everyday work, Orihime ran to Urahara's shop, where the former shinigami was expecting her. After learning how to reject her position, she started with different combinations of her powers, training how to extend her shield and her healing dome over bigger distances. She almost could cover a area of two hundred meters with her shield and her dome was able of cover five people at the same time, without feeling any more tired than by reading one of her mangas: she had to use the Shouten gang to work out that part, but since one of Urahara-san's experiments had gone wrong and all of them had some burns, they happily agreed with being her guinea-pigs.<em>

_But her training was almost discovered one time, when Kurosaki-kun visited Urahara to learn about Soul Society state. Orihime had to hide herself behind the shop and then reject her position to the next rooftop and so on, until she was over her house. She felt bad, hiding things from him, but her sense of pride won one more time when she remembered Kurosaki-kun's smile during their race and how she would make him proud the next time she find a hollow._

_One day, she started her training, putting in practice an idea she had about how Tsubaki, Ayame and Shun'ō could work together. If Tsubaki was able of cutting a hollow, so Ayame and Shun'ō could reject his hollowfication from the inside, as near the missing heart as possible, even not being with any shinigami in that moment, she could always bring the spirit to Kurosaki-kun's house and ask him to perform kenso. Yes, that would make the spirits happier than being sliced by a zanpakutou and maybe could make it easier for them to find their family in Soul Society... At least she hoped..._

_After telling Urahara-san about her idea, he tried to find a suitable doll that could have hollow powers so she could train with it, but wouldn't put in risk anyone at his Shouten. And with a happy smile he presented "The Ultimate Doll that no kid wanted to have", at least that was how he said it..._

_The girl started immediately, putting together her three fairies, and sending them to attack. The doll started moving, looking more like a zombie than Orihime appreciated. But she ignored its creepy sounds, while watching Tsubaki cutting it and letting Ayame and Shun'ō do the rest. When the golden dome disappeared, the doll laid innocently at the floor._

_"Very well, Inoue-san! But you should look again" advised Urahara, pointing to somewhere behind her._

_A much more gigantic doll, that didn't look like a doll at all, much more with a crab or some weird sea animal, with his pincers clicking, approached her, creating a horrible sound that reverberated through the field._

_Orihime looked to the thing and spreading her legs apart positioned herself into a fighting position._

_"Tsubaki!" she called and the small man was immediately by her side. "Can you cut it?"_

_Tsubaki eyed his enemy analytically and kicking Orihime's head, yelled:_

_"Of course I can! What do you think I am? Some useless thing? I'll show you, stupid woman!" and he sped away into the hollow's body, but in an instant it disappeared. He stopped, midair, and looked around, trying to find where his opponent was._

_Orihime felt behind her a violent wind, and before she was hit, she jumped out of the way, using her shield as an impulse. She didn't even think about what she was doing, while her shield kept her protected. The thing tried to grab her and knowing that Tsubaki was too far away, she used Lily, Baigon and Hinagiku to keep her away, while she tried to concentrate in rejecting her position: the three fairies used their shield, so she could levitate in the air, flying away from her opponent, and for a moment she felt like Aladdin, in his magic carpet. Ayame and Shun'ō immediately surrounded her with their golden dome and she felt being pushed to another place. Reappearing behind the hollow, she kicked his head and neck and drawback, over her shield, when he tried to punch her. She repeated her actions five more times in matter of seconds, and when Tsubaki, Ayame and Shun'ō got a hold of it; the hollow was almost falling to the ground._

_Jumping from her shield, Orihime heard the sound of clapping hands and turning around, saw not only Urahara, but also Yoruichi and Tessai, watching her._

_"That was great, Orihime!" complimented Yoruichi and with a teacher-like tone continued "But you have to train your velocity in rejecting your position, if it had taken one more second you would lost the battle..."_

_Orihime bowed her head, embarrassed, but then, looking up with determination in her face, pumped her fist in the air and proclaimed "Don't worry, Yoruichi-san! I'm going to train so hard that you will be tired of me being here! I'm going to make my friends proud! And no one will ever think of me as a prey!"_

_Urahara looked at Yoruichi with raised eyebrows, while Tessai grabbed Orihime's hand and told her how amazing he thought she was._

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Kurosaki-san!" greeted Usui-san, the blonde shinigami that officially watched over Karakura, bringing her make from her memories.<p>

"Hello!" the woman replied, while watching him sending the spirit away with his zanpakutou.

"Another busy day, I see. Please send my greetings to Kurosaki-sama!" he requested, with reverence.

"Oh, don't call him that. He hates when people treat him like royalty or something like that…" Orihime advised, with the corners of her mouth trembling.

"Oh, but I read so much about his past battles… it's like a living legend, a hero that comes from the shadows and saves his loved one's lives…" said the boy, with fervor. Orihime knew that the young shinigami looked up to her husband, as the shinigami he wanted to become and couldn't stop the pride from filling her heart.

"Well, I'll tell him that you helped me today, once again" she replied, with a gentle smile.

The boy's green eyes lighted up and blushing, he said "Thank you! And you're really pretty today, Kurosaki-san!" before flash-stepped away. Orihime laughed at his antics, but when she entered the shop, her demeanor changed: her dark thoughts came once to the forefront of her mind. What if someone was really trying to steal her reiatsu? And then her mind came up with the worst scenario: what if she was just an experiment? What if her husband was the real target? Ichigo was the strongest warrior in Karakura and one of the strongest shinigami, so it would be obvious that if someone wanted reiatsu for his own would, eventually, go to him… And that was when her ideas crumbled down. Karakura was full of people with high reiatsu: Tatsuki-chan, Uryuu-kun, Yasutora-kun, Urahara-san, Tessai-san, Yoruichi-san, Jinta-kun, Ururu-chan and even the entire Kurosaki family… and no one said anything about their missing reiatsu… and wouldn't it be a better idea to steal small portions from each one, than a great quantity from her? So, if no one was taking her reiatsu away, what was happening to her?

A ringing bell brought Orihime out of her reverie and looking up, she saw an older woman, in her mid-fifties with a furry white cat inside her basket.

"Kinomoto-san, good morning!" greeted Orihime, putting a smile on her face.

"Hello, my dear! I hope is everything okay with you, in this fine day?" the woman had a velvety deep voice that would look good on a storyteller. She patted the cat on the head and put the basket on the floor.

"Everything is perfect! I suppose you came to get your daughter's tulips?" said Orihime, turning around and grabbing innumerous and colorful tulips when the lady nodded.

Her hands were quick and precise: grabbing a leaf, cutting the paper, putting the different colors together in a visual explosion of happiness, she hummed while doing it, feeling the softness of the petals under her fingers and the roughness of the paper around the bouquet.

"Here it is!" Orihime announced, showing her piece of art to a mesmerized Kinomoto-san.

"You're really a gift from God! My Misa will love it!" the woman grabbed the plants with reverence and giving the money to Orihime, left the shop with her cat and her flowers, both on her arms and both under a caring expression.


	4. Chapter 4 Musings

**Chapter 4 - Musings**

**Chapter's music: Soldier On by The Temper Trap**

* * *

><p>Lack of concentration wasn't the best expression to define Ichigo's actual state. The problem was he couldn't concentrate on the report he was trying to write for the past hour, instead, visions of Orihime kept assaulting his mind, and they even weren't from how she looked that morning. He kept repeating, on his head, the last hollow attack and how she got injured.<p>

_They finished their dinner and since the spring air was so warm, they decided that a walk to the park would be a good desert. They were already on their way back, after spending over an hour in those old swings, that they both remembered from their childhood. Orihime was laughing about something he couldn't remember, when from nowhere came a huge arm that knocked Ichigo against a wall. He lost his conscious for seconds and when he regained it, Orihime was already defending him. The only explanation he could find was that the hollow, in some way, kept his dark energy suppressed. He knew he was awful at detecting reiatsu, being Orihime, sometimes, the only exception, but his wife was amazing at doing that and even her didn't felt it… at least, he thought she didn't… thinking hard about those last moments, he could remember Orihime laughing, but before he got punched, she stopped, like she felt breathless… however he couldn't be sure, his memory was a little foggy from beating his head on the wall, but he could swear…_

Shaking his head, he looked at the report, and tried to start, once again, the description of how he found that killer, last week. He couldn't say "I used my ghost buddies, my shinigami powers and my fullbringer friend Chad's information about the man's pet to get him", no, not at all. But what could he do? The city spirits liked to help and even that boy, Usui, sometimes helped him. Without speaking about Uryuu, that through his hospital always knew whose wife got beaten by her husband and what suspect just got treatment from a probably bullet-hound; Chad that, through his pet shop, had incredible insight into the dark side (probably the criminals really liked their cats) and his wife's fairies that were the best spies someone could get, even if he just used them once and in a case of extreme necessity: he saved a kidnapped child that day, entering into a building with a crazy killer inside and almost making Orihime die from _Ichitite_, at least was she called it.

* * *

><p><em>For some time, during his last year of school, Ichigo was lost about to do after that. He had recovered his shinigami powers, but the boy knew he couldn't live of that: ghosts don't pay services, so he had to find something that wouldn't make him bored out of his mind, had a schedule that worked with his other duties and could, at the same time, help him and his friends during their fights… For weeks he looked everywhere to find an inspiration, but was only after he destroyed an alley, during a fight with a really pissed off hollow, that he found his answer. Seconds after the fight ended, a lonely policeman came to the place, alerted by the noise of explosions and all the garbage cans totally destroyed. He observed the man for some time, while he looked around the place, searching for the culprits and when one lady appeared with her grandson, he calmed her and advised her to return home.<em>

_"He is like a human shinigami, protecting the humans from human monsters…" he thought, while the man called his supervisors and reported the situation._

_And from that day on, all he could think of was becoming a police officer. He had to prove himself over and over in the Academy, showing that he wasn't an orange haired punk who was there to disrupt their peace. He was hot-tempered and more than once some of his colleagues had to restrain him from jumping over another man who made a crude joke about him or his girlfriend. All because that guy found out how gorgeous she was. He and Orihime were having a date, walking, hand in hand, when a hollow made its presence known, so they ran forward, searching for the beast. Ichigo stopped his attack against a human girl and pushed it backwards, while Orihime activated her powers and reversed his hollowfication, keeping him in place with her shield, a discovery she had made many months prior and that showed itself with great value during fights. When the normal spirit got send to Soul Society, Ichigo and Orihime returned to their previous actions, but stepping out of that alley, they got face to face with some of Ichigo's colleagues. They eyed her like she was a piece of meat and feeling exposed, pushed Ichigo more forcefully. But he, seeing the kind of look his colleagues were sending towards his girlfriend, couldn't just leave it like that: he had to show those bastards that Orihime was someone they should respect._

_"Oh, hello there Kurosaki! What a hot chick you got hein? Is she available in two hours? I need a bit of fun" the man, Hinata Raito, said, with a grimace._

_"No, Ichigo-kun!" Orihime pleaded, grabbing his arm. "You can't get into trouble because of me!"_

_"Oh, Ichigo-kun, are you afraid of me?" Hinata mimicked in a poor imitation of Orihime's worried voice and stepped closer._

_Ichigo was almost losing his reason, he could feel his reiatsu flaring and his fists were just begging to be used, but when the rude man reached to grab a lock of Orihime's hair, he just snapped. Hiding the girl behind his back, his knee jumped forward and hit the man right in the face. The others tried to run, but he was faster and in two strikes was right in front of them, presenting his fist to their bodies._

_But since that day, Hinata used every moment with a superior nearby to whisper disrespectful things to Ichigo that had to control himself or else would be expelled._

_At the end of every day, Ichigo would go to Orihime's apartment, so he could calm himself before getting home. She knew what he was passing through and was always able to calm him just with her presence. He liked to watch her study botany; she would get really immersed in the scientific aspects of flower's conception and would forget about the world around her, until Ichigo would make his presence known by kissing her cheek or breathing into her hear, making her giggle and look at him like he was a wonder to her; he never really understood that look, until she told him that after what happened until they got together, every day of being able to see him like that was a miracle._

* * *

><p>Ichigo got out from his flashbacks and sneered at the man that was passing through his desk in that moment. He looked back, but didn't dare say anything to him. Hinata learned, after Ichigo got a promotion and became his boss, that he really shouldn't tell any more unsophisticated jokes about his lovely wife. He laughed, remembering his expression when he sent him to recollect evidences at a nearby dump, after one of his trainee investigators lost one sample during the transportation.<p>

He tried again to concentrate on the matter at hands, but once again, saw his attention diverted by a crowd of excited men talking with someone in the middle of their mob. They sounded really animated so, trying to find out what made his men look like a bunch of high school girls at the sight of a rock star, got up and walked towards them. He could hear some expressions like "_I don't believe it, she is so beautiful_" or "_I wish she was my wife_" and the one that made the vein on his head throb "_Who is called Ichigo anyway, what a ridiculous name_".

"What the hell is going on here?" he roared, making the men jump like they were electrified.

"Kurosaki-san!" they said and some of them, smarter, ran from the place.

"Ichigo!" the motive of all the attention called and waved her hand to grab his attention.

The men looked between the beauty in front of them and their chief and Ichigo could see their mouths dropping against their chests. Some of them mouthed "No way" and others "I didn't know boss' name was Ichigo…"

Orihime made her way towards her husband, which was still glaring at his subordinates.

"I brought your lunch, you forgot it at home" she said, trying to grab his attention again. He looked at her and grabbing her hand, took her to his desk.

"Were they rude to you? Did you feel any of them trying to grab you?" Ichigo asked when Orihime sat at his desk, with him standing beside her like a statue or a body guard. He frowned at anyone who dared to pass his secretary that moment.

"Of course not, they were very polite, they were trying to help me! Actually I think you made them afraid… you shouldn't be like that to your colleagues" Orihime advised and Ichigo sighed, his wife was too naive, it made him go insane.

He could still hear whispered conversations and expressions like "_Such a lovely woman, it's a pity"_ or "_I didn't know boss had a woman like that, I always thought all the females would run away from his scowl!_" just made his temper rise to more dangerous levels.

"Oh, Usui-san helped me this morning, you know?" Orihime said, trying to free her husband from his dangerous mood.

"So you had a busy morning then? No more hollows being a problem, right?" Ichigo asked and Orihime, knowing that what she was doing was wrong, smiled and said "Of course not, I'm your super wife! No hollow can defeat me!" and pumped her fist into the air, making him laugh, which earned more awed expressions from his subordinates: no one ever saw that man smile, not even when he was being praised by their superiors after a good job. It almost made him look civilized…

"Well, thank you, my super wife for bringing my super lunch after my super memory forgot about it after seeing his super spouse in only a sheet" he murmured, making her blush furiously and giggle at the same time. She smiled, embarrassed and not at all remorseful, and kissed his cheek biding her farewell and leaving the place.

"And, please be nice to them, all right? You don't want a rebellion to rise against you!" she advised in a very serious tone, like she could imagine those men grabbing knifes and swords and chase after her reckless husband. She shuddered and made her puppy-eyes, until Ichigo sighed and promised he would do his best to not origin an office war.

Sitting at his table, he chuckled. Oh, how Orihime made writing that report more bearable! But, even thinking like that, he kept his scowl in place, just for the mental sake of his colleagues.

* * *

><p>Urahara was worried… well worried wasn't the best word to define his state, he was baffled by his last theory… <em>if<em> he was right, then they would have a huge problem in their hands, one that would need continuous supervision from all of them. He didn't know if that was possible, but since he never heard of anything like that, it couldn't surprise him. Funny enough, he always had to get himself into something that no one would ever think about… just his luck! Oh, who was he trying to trick? _He loved it!_ Every minute of his mind working was like a miracle, so many impossibilities to be made into possibilities, so many secrets to be revealed and so many evolutionary states that someone could reach…

Tessai's voice called him back to earth and when he looked into his old friend's face, he realized something was not right.

"What happened?" Kisuke asked, closing the distance between them, avoiding being overheard by Jinta and Ururu who were painting the outside of the house.

"Some news from Soul Society… Apparently the disappearances stopped" Tessai said, cryptically and Urahara frowned, rubbing his chin.

"Well, they decreased those last months, wherever they wanted with those people probably achieved it… How much time passed since the last disappearing?" Urahara started walking again, making Tessai follow him into his study. Yoruichi was there, sipping through a cup of tea.

"They waited two months to tell us…" Tessai informed, in a hushed tone. Yoruichi's eyebrows shot up catching with the theme immediately.

"So, it means that during a whole year, spirits with high capability of becoming a shinigami disappeared and who else knows how many with low abilities before them… What does it tells us?" he asked, looking into his friends' eyes.

"That they were evolving whatever they were trying to do and finally accomplished it." Yoruichi said with certainty.

"And what could that be?" Urahara replied, in an expectative tone.

"No idea…" confessed the woman, looking into the blonde's eyes with suspicion. "But _you_ know, right?"

"I just have some theories, but they are so farfetched that I won't dare telling them, nonetheless about something I'm sure. If they were evolving with the spirits that disappeared, it means that those with higher spiritual pressure will probably be their final target…" he sentenced, in an ominous voice.

"Are you going to stop Ichigo, Orihime and Sado from travel to Soul Society? You know she hasn't being feeling okay…" Yoruichi said, worriedly.

"No, I won't. If any of them is a target we won't know what happens until the culprit shows himself and what a better way of catching him or her than when he or she tries to reach one of them?"

"Aren't you worried about them? They are our friends!" Yoruichi replied and beside her, Tessai nodded frenetically.

"Of course I am, that's why I warned some acquaintances to never leave their side." Urahara clarified, with a smug smile.

"Oh oh, I know who you're talking about and Ichigo won't like it at all!" Yoruichi, advised, but a smirk could be seen taking over her lips. "I would love to see his face when he gets there!"

"So do I, my dear, so do I!" and Urahara chuckled, in a sinister tone.

* * *

><p><strong>Some acquaintances, hein? Who are they? Well, wait for the next chapter to discover... <strong>


	5. Chapter 5 Story Tellers

**Chapter 5 – Story tellers**

Chapter's Music – Strange Times by Black Keys

* * *

><p>"Orihime, lets cancel the whole trip…" Ichigo suggested, with his nose buried in her hair.<p>

"Why? You're always eager to bicker with Kuchiki-san and …" Orihime said, but Ichigo silenced her with his expression.

"It's not bicker! It's just how we talk…!" Ichigo defended himself, in an hasty tone, making Orihime giggle.

"But why that sudden decision? Don't you want to see Rukia-chan and Renji-kun?" Orihime asked, while Ichigo started playing with one of her locks.

"It's not that…" he said, without taking the eyes from the braid he was trying to do with her hair. "It's just… you are going to laugh, but… I have this feeling nagging me that something is going to happen, something bad…" he confessed, looking up to bury his eyes into her own. She didn't laugh… she never did when he had that expression, the expression of someone that lost too much and felt like was living in the edge of loosing another dear thing. Her lips started trailing his jaw line, his cheek, until his temple.

"Nothing is going to happen, I promise. We have each other to get our backs, so you can stop those feeling from taking roots in your brain, or else I will think those aliens stole all your confidence in me…" Orihime whispered and Ichigo felt himself melt under her breath. She was his ray of sunshine, the water in the middle of desert, she was his everything and if something ever happened to her… Shaking his head to get rid of those dangerous thoughts, Ichigo smiled and felt Orihime sigh in relieve.

"You really want to see that annoying thing?" Ichigo asked, while Orihime glared at him.

"Don't be mean, I know you miss her, and I bet she misses you too!" Orihime said, confidently. Some years ago, those words would be said with a smile, but a heavy heart, like she couldn't breathe at all, but now, she knew, she was the only one for Ichigo and he was the only one for her. And even if he didn't choose her, even if he had fall in love with Rukia, he would always be the one for her.

"Well, since my girl wants me to be annoyed out of my head, let's go!" Ichigo said, jumping from the bed. He grabbed Orihime's hand and the both of them walked into the kitchen to a well deserved breakfast.

* * *

><p>"Hello, hello, my fellow companions!" Urahara greeted them, with a smile, while waving his fan in front of his face. He was still inside the shop, but was already welcoming them through the window.<p>

Ichigo, Orihime, Sado, Tatsuki and Ishida walked into the backyard of the shop. The last two wouldn't be accompanying them: Ishida had an important meeting outside of town with other hospitals' administrators and Tatsuki couldn't leave her dojo to her useless assistant, but they couldn't leave their friends depart for a week without saying goodbye. Tatsuki, specially, was incredible worried about Urahara's last visit and the day after that, called Orihime each two hours to know if she was alright, and at night, made herself present with Uryuu at the Kurosakis' dinner table, much to Ichigo's boredom, that had to hear her scolding him for not taking good care of the lovely, intelligent, sweet and amazing wife he had, like he didn't know that already; and what annoyed him more was Ishida's stuck-up smile, behind his wife's back.

"So, Orihime, are we clear? If Ichigo doesn't do his best, just tell me and I will take care of him…" Tatsuki was saying, while they approached the blonde inventor.

"But, he does his best to protect me!" Orihime replied, in a serious tone. "Actually, he does too much and ends up hurting himself, like when he fell from the roof, trying to put those Christmas' lights… I could have done that, but noooo, he had to go and slip in that snow and break his leg!" Orihime rambled, lost in her memories. Tatsuki clapped her hands in front of her face and the woman snapped out of her thoughts.

"You're too soft on him!" Tatsuki complained.

"And you know I can hear all you're saying, right?" Ichigo asked, from behind. He was walking in line with Sado and Ishida, while the women walked in front of them.

"Yes, I know. I wanted you to hear that…" the karate instructor replied in a hard tone. "So, if something happens with her I will beat you, got it?"

"Yes." Ichigo said, simply, but his tone brought no doubts to anyone that he wouldn't let anything happen to his wife.

"Good!" Tatsuki approved, while opening the shop's door and entering the place. In the hallway, Kisuke was leaning against the wall, waiting for the younger group to enter his domains.

"C'mon, c'mon, I don't have the entire day, you know? The shop is getting really crowded…" he said, while heading to the levels beneath the place.

"Yeah, of mice" Uryuu grumbled, under his breath and Tatsuki flashed an approving smile.

When they ended their descend, Urahara already had a Senkaimon open for them and Ichigo, Orihime and Sado stepped forward. Tatsuki waved, while her three friends disappeared behind the passageway. She found Uryuu's hand and grabbed it. He squeezed her fingers and brought them to his lips.

"Nothing bad will happen…" Ishida whispered and Tatsuki nodded._ She has Ichigo, she has the best protection, she has her own amazing powers, nothing could hurt her, then why do I feel this way? Like it's the last time…_

* * *

><p>Ichigo stepped out of the Sekaimon, hand in hand with Orihime, while Sado followed right behind them. They blinked to the sudden light, letting their eyes get used to the new environment.<p>

The three headed to the Captain's meeting room, but before they got there, Renji and Rukia appeared, running.

"Hi everyone!" Rukia said, while engaging Orihime in a giggling conversation.

Renji patted Ichigo and Sado on the shoulder and started directing them to a different direction than their previous one.

"Why are we going this way? The reunions are always in the Captains' mee..." but Ichigo's breath got stuck in his lungs when two strong arms got around his chest. His first instinct was to elbow who tried to sneak on him, but he realized, in time, that we was being hugged and not attacked. Looking behind, he found a greenish long hair keeping the person's identity hidden, but something in that color made him remember a small kid.

"N-Nell?" he stuttered and felt the girl laugh against his back. She stepped back and smiled, waving her hand. He was still trying to get his senses back, when the woman jumped and grabbed Orihime in a bone-crushing hug, while asking if Ichigo finally learnt the right way to treat a woman. Orihime just laugh, but feeling another presence, she looked up and her entire body froze, eyes widen with fear. Her husband looked around, trying to find the reason for his wife's reaction and ready to slice it. But when he saw a bluish hair, something inside him stirred and he prepared himself not to slice, but to crush it into tiny little pieces.

"Whoa! Easy, Ichigo!" yelled Rukia, grabbing his shoulder. "Stop with that firework of reiatsu!"

He looked at her with so much hatred in his eyes, she felt tempted to step back, but she didn't.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" he spitted, with venom.

"Remember when we said, at Orihime's birthday we had a surprise for you here?" Renji asked, in a fake joyful tone.

"So what?" he roared. His fist was hitching to grab Zangetsu and cut that bastard's head. He could feel Orihime's trembling hand grabbing his Shihakushō. In all those years, she never told him what happened during the hours between her depart and their reunion, but he knew that it sometimes still haunted her, like it did to him.

"Surprise!" Nelliel yelled, grabbing Ichigo's arm.

"So..." he started, in a low and dangerous tone."You kept Grimmjow fucking Jeagerjaques in Seireitei for three months? Without telling us? Are you_ insane_? Did you forget what he did to us? To Orihime? He was a freaking Espada! He worked for _Aizen_! He tried to_ kill us_! He is probably thinking of ways to kill us right now and you kept him here? Did you turn into Aizen now? Is he ruling over here?" Ichigo's tirade would keep up for the entire day, if Orihime didn't step in front of him and grabbed his face, so he would look at her.

"Ichigo, let them explain." she said simply and looking into those brown orbs he felt his breathing normalize.

"Orihime..." he whispered, but she shook her head. She knew what he was going to say. She knew better than anyone how cruel the Espadas could be, but she also trusted Rukia and Renji and knew their friends would never do anything to hurt them.

"Ichigo, we should listen before we jump to conclusions" Sado said wisely.

"Chad..." Ichigo grumbled, but seeing his best friend and wife's expressions, shut his mouth; but kept Orihime behind him, the most far-away he could get from Grimmjow, without leaving the place. _And did he felt tempted!_

"Four months ago, Shinji and Hitsugaya commanded a mission to Hueco Mundo with me and Rukia" Renji started, under the watchful eyes of Ichigo.

* * *

><p><strong><em>"Are you sure about that information?" Renji asked, in a doubtful tone.<em>**

**_"Yes, our informants were very specific. Two individuals, looking like humans, roaming around Las Noches and with powerful spiritual pressure" Shinji confirmed. "And that's why we want you to come with us; they might be Espadas that survived all those years..."_**

**_"But shouldn't we tell Ichigo? He would want to come and kill anyone that hurt Orihime..." Rukia suggested, seeing in Shinji's eyes that her suggestion wasn't welcome._**

**_"And that's why we can't tell him"_**

**_"I didn't get it." Renji confessed and looking at Rukia saw the same confused expression._**

**_"It's not a killing mission... It's a gathering one..." Shinji said, but seeing the others' expression, explained. "If they are alive, so they left Aizen before he lost the war, so, maybe we could talk to them and bring them to our side!"_**

**_"Are you fucking crazy?" Renji yelled._**

* * *

><p>"So, you lost your head too" Ichigo interrupted.<p>

"Of course, do you think I'm crazy?" Renji replied in a heated tone.

"Well... If you want my honest opinion..."

"Shut up, your idiot!"

"And why are you telling the story in the third person?" Ichigo asked, while Renji fumed. He loved making his friend furious

"Artistic freedom! Now shut up!" Renji ordered and Ichigo chuckled. But even in that mood, he kept Zangetsu ready to strike and an observant eye over the former Espada number six.

* * *

><p><em><strong>"No, I'm not!" Shinji interrupted, when Rukia opened her mouth to voice her opinion. "We must do this! They might become good warriors! We don't know what Aizen did to control all of them..."<strong>_

_**"It's weird imagining myself fighting next to an Espada..." Renji said, when Rukia and he returned home.**_

_**"I know, but we must think about what is best to Soul Society" Rukia advised and they both fell under a thoughtful silence until they reached their home.**_

_**The mission's day finally arrived, and Renji and Rukia got up with a sense of foredoom. They hoped they were wrong, but something was telling them that those two individuals were no business to be taken lightly. Sharing a brief kiss before they left the privacy of their home, the two lieutenants...**_

* * *

><p>"Why did you say that? It's private!" Rukia groaned, interrupting her husband and hiding her flaming cheeks.<p>

"I caught you two in much more compromising positions" Ichigo commented, in a teasing tone, making the two blush even more.

"It was for the sake of the story! I need to fulfill every audience's desire!" Renji replied, in a business-like tone.

"Rukia-chan, you know I like romance..." Orihime said, in a pleading tone that made Rukia feel regretful immediately. _Damn Orihime and her cuteness!_

"All right, all right, but don't go farther than there!" Rukia warned, while Grimmjow chuckled darkly and Nell hit him on the back of his head.

* * *

><p><strong><em>"When the two lieutenants and the two captains stepped out of the Seinkamon, into the dark and dead vision of Hueco Mundo, their senses turned into full alert mode. Hitsugaya and Renji closed the distance to Las Noches through the farthest way, while Rukia and Shinji entered through the front door. Neither group felt anything suspicious, until they got together and headed to the old quarters of the Espadas. Founding the place, they also found out why they couldn't feel any powerful being in the vicinity. A wall, not of stone, but made of spiritual pressure protected the chambers and anyone that could hide behind those doors. Hitsugaya looked at his companions and seeing their expressions pushed the door open. Inside, between the shadows they felt two presences, with such power each, that they could only be Espadas... <em>**

**_Shinji smirked smugly to Renji and he just looked with exasperation to the captain._**

**_"Welcome" a female voice said. They tried to see the person's face, but the dark was too thick and they didn't dare step inside the room. They heard a sigh, and steps followed it, approaching with each second. When the female stepped out of the room, they could finally see her..._**

****"And she was awesome!" Nell interrupted, with a laugh. "Sorry Renji, but they probably want to know in a quicker way..."

Renji tsked and crossed his arms over his chest in a offended way.

"So, as you imagine, when we felt them, Grimmjow was all_ let's crush them, eat their limbs, reap their hearts, bla bla bla_...But since, I knew Shinigami weren't totally bad, I convinced him that we should talk to them... The previous years, after I found him and healed him, we roamed through Hueco Mundo, but I was tired of hiding, running and all that freaking sand, so I thought why shouldn't I take a shot? If we weren't violent I hoped they wouldn't be either…" Nell explained in a blasé tone. "At first when Rukia saw me, she was relieved, she knew I helped Ichigo and Orihime and didn't want to injure them, but when Grimmjow made his presence known, for moments I thought there was going to be a fight. I had to put myself between them and scream for Dondochakka and Pesche to help me. They pushed the shinigamis behind while I took care of Grimmjow. I really had to yell over their voices so they could understand that we weren't there to fight. But finally, they heard and we started our negotiations…" Nell concluded, eyeing expectantly to Ichigo.

"Are you trying to say that_ him_…" Ichigo pointed to Grimmjow. "…was all rainbows and sunshine since he came? Like he transform into a saint? Give me a break!" Ichigo scoffed. Grimmjow grumbled under his breath and tried to get up, but Nell pushed him to the ground.

"No, I'm not saying that. I bet you're not all sunshine and rainbows since you married Orihime, right? People are who they are, but they can evolve and realize their past mistakes." Nell said, wisely. Ichigo looked at Orihime and saw a thoughtful look in her eyes. Then, from nowhere, she jumped to her feet and before Ichigo could stop her, closed the distance between them and Grimmjow and extended her hand.

"Hi, I'm Kurosaki Orihime, nice to meet you!" she said, confidently. Grimmjow looked suspiciously at her hand, until Nell nudged him and whispered "You have to grab and shake it".

"I know that, stupid woman!" he growled and without looking directly at Orihime grabbed her hand.

"Ok, that is enough for today!" Ichigo said, grabbing Orihime's arm and pushing her beside him. She looked at him with disapproving eyes and his scowl deepened.

"You don't want me to do what you did, right? I'm no saint like you and no way in hell I'm going to shake_ his_ hand!" Ichigo replied, crossing his arms and turning his back at the Arrancar.

"Ichigo..." Orihime whispered and made him uncross his arms. She grabbed his hands and looking into his eyes they started their silent discussion. For someone other than them, they looked like crazy, frowning and wrinkling their nose without any reason, but for the couple it was a battle of will, without harsh words, or any words at hall. When Ichigo's scowl turned even more pronounced, Orihime jumped and clapped her hands. Her husband sighed and without looking at Grimmjow grumbled "I guess I have to get used to you! But I'm not going to shake your hand!" he affirmed, in a peremptory tone.

"You never know..." said Orihime, mysteriously. Something told her that very soon her husband and the former Espada would start respecting each other and even letting go of some of that hatred.

Ichigo pretended he hadn't heard her words and locking their hands headed to the Captain's Meeting room.

* * *

><p><strong>Finally I have my two favorite arrancars in the story! I just love Nell as a kid, she is so cute! But for the purposes of this story she has her normal adult form.<strong>

**So, is Orihime right and can Ichigo and Grimmjow ever put their old hatred behind their backs?**


	6. Chapter 6 Slyly Doom

**Chapter 6 – Slyly doom**

Chapter's music – Conspiracy by Paramore

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><p>"So, did you chat with our cozy friends?" Soi Fon asked, seeing Ichigo appear with deep creases in his forehead. He grumbled under his breath and sat at his usual chair, right beside Hitsugaya, who waved at them. Orihime ran to him and hugged him, making the boy blush and stutter.<p>

"Did you kill him?" Toshiro asked, when Orihime sat next to Ichigo.

"No, but I felt tempted... I just wanted to wipe that fucking smirk out of his face!" Ichigo said, while Orihime frowned at him.

"Please, don't act like that. I'm tired of fights!" she pleaded and Ichigo sighed.

"Troubles in paradise?" someone asked and Ichigo saw a blur of pink.

"Shunsui-san!" Orihime greeted and the man took her hand and kissed it.

"Lovely as always, my sweet Orihime!" Shunsui said, making Orihime blush. "So, the fights are probably not between our delightful couple but between Ichigo and our newest neighbor, am I correct?" he asked, while Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but you already knew that... And by the way, are they living in one of the barracks? If they are I want to spend the week in Rukongai!" Ichigo said, making the pink kimono owner smile.

"Don't worry, Ichigo, they are living in the farthest house from here, in the south forest." Jūshirō Ukitake said, making his presence known. He was walking behind his oldest friend and heard everything they were saying.

"Thanks for small mercies!" Ichigo said in a low tone, hoping Orihime couldn't hear him over her conversation with Ukitake about his health.

When all the captains were finally present, Ichigo started his report on everything that happened that could be a matter of interest to the highest ranks. Excepting some errant hollows and one of Urahara's experiments that went wrong and brought an abnormal number of spirits to his house, everything was how they wanted it to be.

"We heard that Orihime-san wasn't totally well..." Shunsui said, eyeing the woman with an analytical and worried expression, when Ichigo fell silent. She blushed and hidden her cheeks from all the eyes that were observing her.

"Urahara is worse than an old woman!" Ichigo muttered. "Orihime was tired and that affected her reiatsu. She said she didn't feel anything like that again, right?" Ichigo asked, looking at her with some creases on his forehead. He was way more worried than what he was letting on in front of the captains, so the will to tell him the truth was quickly squished and she smiled and nodded.

"Are you tiring her that much? I never thought you had it in you!" Shinji commented, making Shunsui laugh good-heartedly, Jūshirō release a small smile, Hitsugaya eye him with disbelief and Byakuya pierce him with a deadly glare, while Ichigo had to control himself and not punch him and Orihime had to stop herself from fainting with embarrassment.

"Shinji!" the commander said and the captain felt like his ears were being yanked. Shunsui snickered and Captain Unohana hit him in the back of his head.

"I think it's time to finish this meeting. You can all go back to your responsibilities." Yamamoto said, while his subordinates got up and left the room. Shinji ran from the room when Ichigo started chasing him through the entire place.

"He missed him..." Orihime noted, seeing her husband grab his sword and try to prick Shinji with it.

"It's a funny way of showing it!" Toshiro commented, with an icy tone.

"Don't be like that, Toshiro-kun!" Orihime said, while they started their descending to the tenth squad barracks.

"Captain! It's Cap..." Hitsugaya pleaded in a defeated tone. It's been years and the woman still didn't learn...

"Orihime!" a female voice screamed, cutting the white haired boy's rant.

"Rangiku-chan!" Orihime squealed and the two women hugged each other.

"And where is that grumpy husband of yours?" the blonde asked, looking around.

"We left him playing with Shinji in front of the captain's meeting room" Toshiro said, while walking in front of the women into the house.

"I was not playing! I was teaching him a lesson!" grumbled Ichigo, appearing behind the threes.

"It's funny how he can bring your inner child out!" Rangiku said and Ichigo tsked, while approaching Orihime.

"I'm going to meet with Renji... He said he wanted to spare with me so... I guess I will see you at dinner..." Ichigo said, trying to create an alone moment with his wife under the nosy eyes of the captain and his lieutenant.

"Don't forget, it's in Ganju-kun's place, we promised, okay?" Orihime replied and Ichigo nodded. Blushing under the obtrusive eyes, he lowered his lips and kissed her, before walking away.

"That boy never changes!" Rangiku noted, grabbing Orihime's hand.

"And thank God for that." the healer answered.

* * *

><p>Sparing with Renji was always funny. Ichigo could let go of all his frustrations in a violent way that wouldn't really hurt anyone, except Renji's ego when he got himself kicked in the butt. And he had a lot of them the past week, since two hollows he had to classify as gas explosions and a witness he had to chase through the city to modify his memory, to Orihime than in spite of his words kept worrying him, without forgetting the nagging feeling in the back of his head.<p>

The zanpakutous' clashing sound made him lighter, like some of the weight he carried over his shoulders got lifted. Renji jumped to a rock, changing to Bankai in the process. Seeing that his friend was calling the heavy forces, he felt himself surrounded by his own Bankai and jumped forward. Renji could stop his attacks and even sliced his cheek once, and Ichigo wondered how he made so many progresses since the last time they fought. And then he remembered.

"So, Grimmjow is a good sparing companion?" Ichigo roared, while pushing Zabimaru backwards.

"Eh! Are you jealous, Ichigo?" Renji mocked, cutting his sleeve.

"Ah! You wish! It's just weird seeing you acting all civilized to a guy who tried to kill us..." Ichigo replied, hitting him in the nose with his left fist.

"Ouch! You broke my nose, you idiot! Rukia will be so mad!" Renji complained, ignoring the blood that was falling from his nostrils.

"Don't care!" Ichigo answered, smiling. Renji shook his head, grimacing and the swords danced once more into a fatal rhythm.

"Well, I tried to kill you the first time I saw you, so… And what was that about Orihime being sick?" Renji asked, after some intense moments of silence that made Ichigo won a black eye and Renji a kick in the chins. "She looked perfectly fine to me..."

"Yes, she looked and that is concerning me too..." Ichigo said, his grip on Zangetsu faltering and Renji used that opportunity to send him to the ground. When the red head jumped from his high rock, Ichigo was still sitting on the floor and seeing his friend's expression, he understood that his mind was no longer on the fight.

"C'mon, don't be all wimpy!" he said, trying to cheer him up. "That woman is the toughest I met; just don't tell Rukia I said that... If something is really happening she can work it out..." Renji hit him on the back, in a friendly manner.

"Did you ever hear of someone starting to lose his or her reiatsu?" Ichigo inquired, drawing senseless in the dirt with his finger.

Renji looked at him, surprised. So that was what was happening. Rukia and he just knew that she was felling a little down, according to Kushiki-san's words, but maybe he was just softening them to their ears.

"No." Renji answered simply. And he saw Ichigo's shoulders drop.

"Yeah, I thought so... Urahara was worried; even if he didn't say and Ishida and Chad too, they just think I don't notice it..." Ichigo grumbled, grabbing a rock and sending it flying into the horizon.

"Look, it doesn't do any good keeping yourself down like that and besides, Orihime won't like seeing you like that..." Renji advised, with his eyes unfocused.

"Yeah, you're right and I should head to Ganju's place before Orihime starts to worry." Ichigo announced, while getting up and cleaning the dirt from his clothes. He waved to Renji and using shunpo disappeared from his sight in seconds.

Renji walked home with a heavy heart and seeing Rukia laughing and healthy he realized just a little bit of how Ichigo must be feeling. If something happened to Rukia...

"Hey, did you lose to Ichigo? That's why you're all thoughtful?" Rukia asked, taking him out of his thoughts.

"Of course not, I just beat him! He went to whine about it to Orihime, you can ask her!" Renji replied in an angry tone, hoping Rukia wouldn't notice his worry. She tsked and crossing her arms, rolled her eyes at his reaction.

"Then why is your nose sideways?"

* * *

><p>"Captain, is everything alright?"<p>

"How many times did I ask you to stop calling me captain? It makes me feel old! Just call me Shinji!"

"Sorry Captain Shinji." Hinamori replied, giggling. Her captain sighed and started playing with his sleeve. "But what is worrying you?" she asked, noticing his concerned look.

"Do you remember about those shinigamis that died one year ago?" Shinji asked.

"The ones in Hueco Mundo?" and seeing Shinji's nod, she continued. "Yes, of course, but something happened again? I thought they were killed by hollows..."

"Nothing happened, but from around that time some people got missing, people with strong reiatsu..." Shinji said. "And then, two months ago the disappearing stopped..."

"But shouldn't people be informed about that? Why no one said anything?" Hinamori asked, being reminded of all the Aizen's problems and shivered.

"The disappearances were spaced and in different areas of Rukongai. No one would investigate a disappearance if the person wasn't a shinigami yet... And I just know about that, because Urahara told me. Apparently, he still has ears and eyes in here, just like he lived here. But apparently, those ears didn't inform him right away, so he just knew last week. And he told me all about it... What I think is that someone from the research team is informing him, while doing his investigations. But now, that he really started to get worried, he finally told me everything and asked me to keep an eye on things..." Shinji told Momo that was listening with extreme attention.

"Well, if Urahara-san is worried we should listen and try to find the most we can!" Momo said, with determination. "I can ask Shiro-kun if he knows something..."

"No, lets wait a few more days, until Urahara says something more. It could be just a freaking hollow that was responsible for the disappearing and was destroyed." Shinji said, in a hopeful tone. Hinamori mirrored his expression and returned to her report.

* * *

><p>"C'mon, lovebirds, it's time to wake up!" someone was yelling, while bagging on their door.<p>

"Go away!" Ichigo exclaimed, while putting his head under the pillow. The last night, Ganju kept them for long hours, and even if they had lots of fun seeing him being scolded by his sister, when they got to sleep was way past four in the morning. He thought about sleeping until noon, but apparently Renji was having none of it.

"It's Renji-kun..." Orihime's sleepy voice invaded the room.

"I know... That bastard!" Ichigo jumped to his feet and in two strides was opening the door to a grinning Renji.

"Good morning!" Renji said, in a cheerful tone. "I have lots of activities for you, Ichigo!"

"What are you, some touristic guide? I know Seireitei like the back of my hand, so just let me stay here!" Ichigo complained, ready to close the door in his face.

"But we are going on a mission. This last week a lot of people from Rukongai east reported an abnormal number of hollows in the mountains that surround them" Renji informed. "And we were just waiting for you to wake up and come with us, but you were taking so long I had to drag myself here and wake you up... By the way, sorry Orihime!" Renji apologized, poking his head into the room to look at a sleepy but smiling Orihime.

"I don't know..." Ichigo said and Renji saw him looking into the room.

"Do you want her to see you like that? Besides, Rukia is staying here, so nothing is going to happen." Renji said, knowing what was stopping him.

"And Chad?"

"He went to Rukongai to see a friend of him." Renji explained. "C'mon, man, cheer up! Or are you too rusty to keep up with me?"

"What?" Ichigo replied, frowning at Renji's words; he wasn't stupid, he knew what the man was doing and even if he would never tell him, he was really grateful.

"Alright, just let me get changed!" Ichigo said, closing the door. He turned around with an apologetic expression and Orihime sighed.

"Go!" she said simply, waving with her hand. Ichigo rolled his eyes and crouching beside his wife, kissed her cheek.

"Are you planning on visiting some place with Rukia?" Ichigo asked, while grabbing his shinigami clothes and putting them over his body.

"No, I think she wanted to end some reports, so probably I will go to Shunsui-san, he asked me to take some tea with him and Jūshirō-san..." Orihime said, while seeing Ichigo strapping Zangetsu.

"Good, a calm day..." Ichigo murmured to himself, while his wife snuggled into the futon.

"Bye!" Ichigo said, kissing her lips until she had to push him to breath.

"C'mon!" Renji's voice could be heard again and when Ichigo disappeared behind the door, Orihime heard curses and fighting sounds.

* * *

><p>"What the hell is he doing here?" Ichigo asked, eyeing Grimmjow with revulsion.<p>

"He invited himself." Renji said in a low tone, so no one, beside Ichigo, could hear.

"I want to kill some bastard! And since I don't have authorization to kill you..." Grimmjow said, leaving the trail of a threat in the air. Ichigo snapped his fingers and calling all his self control didn't put them around the Arrancar's neck.

When they prepared to leave, Ichigo eyed Seireitei once more, feeling that nagging sentiment of doom in his heart, more than ever. Renji had to grab his arm and drag him behind them, with Toshiro grumbling about the idiots he had to put up with.

"At least we are better than Matsumoto!" Renji replied to which Hitsugaya smiled smugly and informed them that just for once she stayed behind to complete her reports.

"Right..." Renji said in a whispered voice. "It's more like she stayed behind to nap in her captain's couch..."

* * *

><p>When Orihime departed from Shunsui Kyorakous's house the sun was already setting. She walked into the peaceful streets, with her thoughts all over the place after a conversation with Unohana Retsu left her mind in a blaze of worries. The 4th Squad Captain passed through her oldest friend's house for a peaceful tea, a moment of harmony between her daily work of healing and saving all the kind of men and women. Finding Orihime there, the Captain smiled, wanting to talk with the woman for some time now. Shunsui would have laughed the entire conversation, with Jushiro trying to keep him quiet, if it wasn't for Unohana's dark look, which made the two men cringe in absolute fear. And fear was what was gnawing Orihime now, when she felt a movement and a blur of black hair called her attention.<p>

"Rukia-chan!" she called, waving her arm over her head.

Rukia stopped and looking behind saw Orihime running to her. Her worried expression deepened, knowing what was going to happen.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, seeing the shinigami with her zanpakutou and ready for battle.

"It's a hollow attack... Some shinigamis of my squad were attacked when they were training in the lower woods..." Rukia informed and for Orihime's expression she knew she was right. So, when the woman volunteered to accompany her, she couldn't be surprised.

Orihime's conscience whispered to her that it wasn't the best time to get herself into something like that, but she had to get it out of her mind or it would stop her from helping the ones who needed her help. Saving others' people live, that was one of the most important things in her life, something that made her feel proud of whom she was and looking to another side, while others were in danger wasn't in her nature. She had confidence in her skills; everything was going to be alright…

Nodding with her head, the dark haired warrior was followed by the orange haired one. And neither could guess how such a simple gesture would change everything in such a tragic way.

* * *

><p><strong>Something is going to happen... But, you won't know until some chapters after this one. Why? Because the next chapters are going to be totally flashbacks, since I want to show how Ichigo and Orihime started their relationship and this is the perfect moment to do that. <strong>

**Please, review.**


	7. Chapter 7 Uncovered Feelings

_**Turn Back The Pendulum**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7 – Uncovered Feelings<strong>

**Chapter's music: What if we could by Blue October**

** Bleed for me by Saliva**

* * *

><p>So, like I said, the next chapters are going to be flashbacks, starting with this one.<p>

* * *

><p>"Kurosaki-kun!" the girl screamed when he, looking around to make sure Sado was alright, got sliced in the cheek.<p>

He roared and jumped to cut the two hollows' masks, making Ishida tsk at him when he saw his opponent fell to the ground.

"I was taking care of that one!" the Quincy grumbled and Ichigo rolled his eyes at his words.

"You're welcome!" the shinigami replied, while Inoue hovered over his shoulder, seeing if there was any injure she should take care of.

"I'm fine, don't worry!" Ichigo said, noticing her observatory eyes. She smiled relieved and skipped to take care of Sado that was wincing with his dislocated shoulder.

The girl didn't came in time to help in the fight, being too far away at the moment, so, when she saw Sado hurt her first thought travelled to the orange haired boy that always protected his friends. Tatsuki came with her, curiosity filling her mind to see her best friend in action, but she just saw her healing powers and not her new ones that she kept under a veil of secrecy. Exchanging a significant glance with Ishida, while Orihime talked with Ichigo, the black haired teenagers shook their heads in disbelief; even a blind man could see how their healer felt about the dense shinigami. Only he was imperceptive enough to not notice it.

"Oh, I was hoping I could enter the fight!" said a mocking disappointed voice from above the group.

"Kuchiki!" Ishida said, eyeing the girl that was over one of the tree's branches.

She smiled and jumped to the floor. Orihime ran to her and hugged her, while Ichigo sent her way a look that clearly said "Welcome" and waved.

"What if we have dinner at Urahara's?" Rukia suggested, after some minutes of talking and trading information.

"Yes, and I could cook!" Orihime said, enthusiastically. The others' expressions froze and a dark aura fell over the group.

"Don't tire yourself!" Ichigo said quickly, trying to save his friends and himself from that doom.

"Don't worry, Kurosaki-kun! I've been learning some new recipes and wanted to try them!" the girl kept going, without noticing her friends' humor, or at least, apparently without noticing, because when she turned around to look at them, she said smiling. "Don't worry, there won't be any wasabi with chocolate or red bean past with onions!" and a general sigh of relieve could be heard.

After a meal cooked by Inoue in a normal, or abnormal way for her, Ichigo just felt so relaxed that he dropped his head against the wall and fell asleep. He didn't see the girl dropping a blanket over his form or the look in her eyes when he sighed and nuzzled under the thick material.

When he woke up, none of his friends were in sight. While walking through the halls of Urahara's place, he couldn't stop thinking about the dinner. During the entire meal, he couldn't just shake the feeling that Rukia, Tatsuki and Ishida were having a silent conversation between them that, in some way, concerned him.

"Do you think he could ever realize what she feels for him?" a female muffled voice escaped through a semi closed door, at the back of the shop. Ichigo didn't want to hear any of Rukia's private conversations, but when Tatsuki's voice called someone thick, he got curious. Thanking for that experiment Urahara asked him to try, and that was one his inventions to supress human's reiatsu, he stopped right outside the door. He wasn't eavesdropping per se; he was waiting for the right moment to interrupt.

"Sometimes I want to bang his head on the wall and just tell him!" Rukia grunted in an exasperated voice.

"No, that's not our place to tell! And besides, what if we told him and he doesn't feel the same way? Do you want to see Orihime's face if that happens? Even though she knows he doesn't think about her that way, she would be crushed all the same." Tatsuki's voice replied in unhappy tone.

Ichigo was almost jumping into the room. So Inoue liked some guy? And for their conversation, the tug didn't spare a look towards her... Well, that's good! Wait! What? That's not good, Inoue deserves happiness, if someone deserves it's her. So he had to find the punk and make him see reason, even if he was some annoying kid from their school. He just hoped that he wasn't Ishida, that would be too disconcerting...

"Ishida…" Rukia said and Ichigo felt his fists tremble.

"I agree with Arysawa-san..." the male voice raised over the girls' and Ichigo sighed with relieve, so he was in the room, which meant he wasn't the mystery guy, thank God!

"Even if he liked her that way, Kurosaki would just hurt her in the end. She is too innocent and he is too reckless, it would just end in tears and regrets." Ishida said, in a sad tone.

Ichigo felt like his lungs lost all their air. Inoue liked... No, Inoue lov... No, that was not possible! They were joking! It was a sick joke! Someone like her, so full of life would never fall for a guy that was the reason for his mother's death, who made her a target to all kind of sick monsters, who became a monster and almost killed his friends... _"Except her"_ said a voice in the back of his mind, and for a moment he thought with a shiver that his hollow was back, but realized a second later that it was just his conscience.

He swore under his breath and walked away, leaving Urahara's shop and his friends behind. It was raining outside, but he didn't worry about that, he just wanted to escape and think.

He would be a fool if he said that a part of him, less responsible and more emotional, a part that belonged to a boy whose mother was still alive, didn't enjoy that information. Inoue was a dream, not because of her looks, but of her light, that could make a room shine with happiness. She made him smile just with her weird faces, worry when she tried to fight bigger opponents and almost die when he saw how she was treated in Hueco Mundo. She could make him rise and fall with her power, she could become a goddess in the world, her powers were strong enough for that, but she kept her steady position right beside him, ready to protect everyone, even the ones that didn't deserve her compassion. So why wasn't he happy with the news? Just one word: death. He was surrounded by it; he had shinigami powers, fought with hollows, shed blood from his enemies and almost destroyed his family. If it wasn't for him, his father would still have a wife, his sisters would have grown up with a lovely and amazing woman to take care of them, but instead they have a frowning son and brother that just brought destruction into their doorstep. How he wished he could just go back in time and never hear that conversation; be caught by Ishida when he approached the room; deny Urahara's experiment that hided his reiatsu… Now, because of that, a lot of possibilities were roaming inside his head and he just couldn't hope for the majority of them. They were just impossible dreams. Screaming in frustration took out the bracelet that Urahara gave him to try and sent it against a tree.

His shinigami badge brought him back to the real world and looking around, searching for a place to hide his body, he found a cozy tubular structure in a playground.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he followed the dark reiatsu to a nearby forest, near Karakura's graveyard.

_"How ironic!"_ he thought, in a dark tone, while taking his zanpakutou from his back. Two small spirits came to him, running from the dark trees and right behind them a mix between a man and a scorpion could be seen.

"Oh, no you won't!" Ichigo said, protecting the kids with his left hand and grabbing the sword with his right.

The hollow jumped over him and Ichigo flash-stepped after the beast, leaving the spirits behind. It kept his runaway while Ichigo tried to cut him. When he was almost reaching it, two screams erupted from behind him. He turned around and saw another hollow, a twin of the one he was fighting, hovering over the children.

He tried to run, but the hollow number 1 stopped his track.

"_Oh, no you won't!_" he repeated Ichigo's previous words in a mocking tone. The boy screamed in frustration and he was going to attack, when he felt a familiar pressure nearing the place.

"Koten Kisshun!" the girl yelled, trying to grab the other hollow's attention. Ichigo saw three flashes of light following their mistress order and was astonished when the golden dome started to revert his hollow form to a normal spiritual one.

"You bitch!" the twin yelled and disappeared from Ichigo's sight. He looked around and his eyes fell over the girl that was calming the two kids. They looked at her like she was an angel and for moments Ichigo could see what they saw: a goddess made human...

"Inoue!" he called and the girl looked around and waved her hand.

Then, another one made its presence be felt behind her and the hollow's spike grabbed Inoue, cutting her arms and torso.

She screamed and at, almost the same time, Ichigo was right beside her, watching as the girl bumped her head against the hollow's and sent her fairies to create a dome around it. The thing banged the dome, but it didn't move a millimeter.

Ichigo immediately performed the kenso at the hollow, while it looked at them with such vicious eyes that the boy thought he was trying to burn their faces in his mind. The other hollow was watching, confused, so Ichigo had no problem, doing the same thing with him.

He turned his frame towards Inoue and felt his friend's words ring into his mind. She was smiling, expectantly and Ichigo had to make himself say what he had to say.

"Inoue! What the hell was that?" Ichigo yelled and caught the girl by surprise. Her eyes widen and he felt himself break a little.

"Go home!" he said and without looking again to her face, he turned around and disappeared from her sight.

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><p><strong>I know, Ichigo is being a moron... But we all know how he acts when someone he cares about is in danger and finding out about Orihime's feelings is just going to increase that sense of being a danger to the others.<strong>


	8. Chapter 8 Stone Walls

**Turn Back the Pendulum**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8 – Stone Walls<br>**

**Chapter's Music – Save Yourself by Civil Twilight**

**Home by Michael Bublé**

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><p>Monday morning, the young shinigami woke up with a blaring pain on his head, consequence of less than one hour of sleep. His last plan kept his mind wake, while the two sides of him argued against and for it. He knew what he had to do, he wish he could forget what he heard the previous day, but since he couldn't, he would make sure that the naive girl would have a happy life.<p>

Greeting his classmates that were outside the school, Ichigo walked into the building, searching for a long auburn hair.

"Hi Kurosaki-kun!" the greeting came from behind him and Ichigo turned around to look at rosy cheeks and glimmering eyes. But before he could say anything, Ishida and Chad appeared. They eyed the two friends and stared at Inoue's arms.

"What happened?" Sado asked, eyeing the bandages that wrapped around her arms.

"Don't worry. It was just a hollow and Kurosaki-kun took care of it." the healer explained, with happiness.

"Really Kurosaki? I know shinigamis are not the smartest, but you could, at least, be a little quicker at helping Inoue-san!" Ishida complained.

Ichigo looked at him and his words from yesterday echoed in his mind "It would just end in tears and regrets".

"It's not my fault she put herself in the middle!" Ichigo said and felt something inside him crack. "I was doing just fine until I had to save her, _again_! She should just step out of other people's business, especially if she is just going to be a nuisance!" he could see the pieces of his heart at the floor and inquired himself why his friends didn't try to grab the fragments.

He was being untruthful, a liar, cruel and plain awful, but it was the only way he saw that Inoue would let go of her feelings for him, she had to despise him, incapable of tolerating the vision of his face...

"_**What?**_ What the hell does that means? Did you hit your head or something? 'Cause you're sounding like a crazy person!" Ishida spited, grabbing the front of his jacket.

"Ichigo, why are talking like that? That's not you." Sado said with a disappointed voice. Ichigo felt even worse, seeing his best friend loose his confidence in him, but he had to do it.

"What the fuck am I talking about? I'm tired of always saving her, but if you want that job, just go! I have too many things to worry than just a girl!" Ichigo yelled, pushing Ishida backwards and leaving them, with hurt and bewildered expressions on their faces.

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><p>Inoue's eyes were shining with unshed tears and breathing raspy, she run from her friends. She knew she was weak, she couldn't hold a zanpakutou or shoot thousands of arrows or punch someone with a super arm, but she thought that Kurosaki-kun was starting to realize her efforts to get stronger and help in future fights. That she didn't want to hold them back, but... the way he spoke, it sounded like he thought she did that on purpose, like he was finally saying something that he thought for some time now, but at the same time it looked like he was saying a rehearsed speech... The girl was so confused; she didn't know what to think… She felt the tears run freely over her face and let herself fall against a tree. She looked around, realizing for the first time where she was and saw herself outside the graveyard. She walked inside, not really knowing what she was doing here.<p>

When she found a familiar name, she dropped over her knees and observed the tombstone.

"Hello, you don't know me, but I'm a friend of your son... at least I thought I was... He is a very nice person, very loyal, very protective of his friends and I just made him mad... It was not his fault, it was me, I was reckless and injured myself!" Orihime said quickly, waving her arms in front of her face. She didn't want Kurosaki-san mad at her son. "I just didn't want him to think of me as damsel in distress, I wanted to show him that I can be a knight, ride a horse and fight with swords. But I could see in his face, he felt guilty..." the girl whispered, while watching the sakura flowers flew through the wind, against Kurosaki Masaki's name.

"I have powers you know, not like Kurosaki-kun's, but I can fight, protect and heal. But even with that, he wants me to step back and let the fight for him. But I just can't do that. I couldn't live if something happened to him and I wouldn't be there to heal him, because... because I love your son, Kurosaki-san! I love him, and even if doesn't know, I don't care, because being his friend, support him, is all I ask, and that's why it hurts so much when he says things like that..." Orihime stopped, feeling her tears trying to get free again and the lump on her throat cutting the entering of air. She took a raspy breath and observed the flowers on the stone. She could remember the first time Tatsuki-chan told her about Kurosaki-kun's mother, he was so unusually smiling that day that her friend explained the reason and she understood that it was just a mask to hide his suffering from the others, even if she could see right through it. She could see that in his father too, even if he was always smiling and cheerful, Orihime could see how the hole left by his wife made his life change drastically. She supposed that his happy mask was for the benefit of his children, she knew that feeling all too well when her brother was taken from her.

"I have to go now, Kurosaki-san. My friends must be worried about me, but it was a pleasure talking to you. And please, know that your son is protecting your family with all his strength and that he loves you very much!" Orihime got up and bowed respectfully.

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><p>Orihime was sitting on her futon, eyeing her old notebook with those fateful words in the end of one of its pages. Her fingers traced the letters, letting herself remember those hours before leaving her life behind to protect her friend, to protect Kurosaki-kun...<p>

Would it have been better if she never came back? Or if she was considered a traitor for joining Aizen? Could it hurt less, just imagining Kurosaki-kun's hateful eyes than seeing them every day, in real life? _No_, she immediately shook her head. Even if for just a life time with him, she would never regret coming back, protecting him with every power she possessed; even dying five times, just to protect him once…

So, for the last moments she caught herself wondering if he missed her, if he cared for her, if he would hate her if he knew the depths of her feelings for him? Would he see them another nuisance, another thing to make his life harder? She cleaned her face with her fingers, erasing the tracks of salty water and grabbed the notebook again, closing it with a thump.

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><p>Ichigo didn't know what to do.<p>

At night he dreamt of her, walking toward him and then falling with blood pouring out of her chest. At day he saw her walking away from him and tears brimming at the corner of her eyes. But even if the second vision caused him pain, it was way better than the nocturne one. He had to keep his distance, he had to! But, how much time would he support see her like that? How much time would it take for him to snatch her and bury her face against his chest and just tell her that everything would be alright? He didn't know, but it was getting harder and harder with each day. He missed her smile, how her sweet words brought a sense of warm into his clouded mind, how her eyes shined when the teacher praised her or when she defeated a hollow and most importantly, he missed the expression she usually had when looking at him… he had never noticed before, but it was different from the expressions she showed to other ones, it was like it illuminated her entire face like the sunset… and now he would never see it again… ever! More and more he found himself headed to her apartment to give up midway and return to his own house, grumbling and scowling to himself like an old man.

His shinigami duties were starting to get affected as well. Normal hollows kept cutting him in the face or in his arms and legs, because he couldn't concentrate in what he was doing and for moments, after defeating them, he just imagined Inoue running towards him and healing his wounds, but when he opened his eyes, letting the vision go away, he would find himself bloody and scarred, and not surrounded by a golden dome of warm.

Did he **missed** her?

That was easy, he would think yes immediately, even if he would say no to anyone who asked him.

Did he** cared** for her?

Well, he died saving her, fought against Arrancars to bring her back, swore to protect her even if it brought him endless pain.

Did he felt anything for her that was **more than just friendship**?

Sometimes, at night, he caught himself wondering that same question. Did he liked her, more than friends? Could he call his feelings for her more than friendship? He didn't know… It's been years since he let himself love someone, other than his father and sisters… His mother, the sun around which his family walked, was the last person he let know his heart without any worries, without any reluctance. Of course, his father knew him way better than he ever thought, but it wasn't because he let that happen, because if it was his choice, his heart would be hidden forever behind a wall of stone, protected from the pain and sorrow and grief that he learned to relate with love.

Could he ever let himself get free of those walls? Could he ever smile a truly happy smile, without any grimace or threat behind it? A carefree laugh without any fear of being chased by death? Was that fear of let himself be known by another person the thing that was keeping him away from her? He knew she could read his mood and his face like no one else. Was that knowledge the reason he made himself believe that he didn't deserve her and to keep his distance?

Ichigo sighed deeply, tousling his hair, while watching the moon illuminating the sky. He felt his stomach clench, while his hands fisted. Was he being a little boy, trying to hide his most treasured thing from the eyes of the others? Was he like that boy that ran away from his father and sisters to the river bank? Was he trapped in his own mind? The confusion was setting over his brain, his eyelids were dropping, the shadows under his eyes were swelling part of his face, he couldn't think anymore. He let himself fell over his pillow, thanking a sleepless night that, for a few hours, brought him peace from his battlefield of his wills.

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><p>Even after her words to Kurosaki Masaki's tombstone and her own words to herself after opening, for the first time, that notebook after years, Orihime found herself at the verge of breaking down. The next weeks were a torture for her. Kurosaki-kun simply ignored her with all his might, which earned him disapproving looks from Ishida-kun, that had to stop himself from punch him in the face; disappointed sights from Sado-kun and two beatings from Tatsuki. She just wanted to cry or to yell when he treated her like that, and for the recent days, yelling was starting to win. But she never did it, she just sat silently, watching from afar as the man she loved walked away, never looking at her, never sparing a look in her direction, day after day after day…<p>

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><p><strong>I know, I know... I'm making them suffer... But only noticing how lonely they are without each other will make their relationship stronger, right? And besides, I can't see Ichigo finding out about Orihime's feeling and chasing her immediately. First he has to understand his own soul, so he can share it with her...<strong>

**Oh, and if you want to see some of my pictures of Bleach you can go to deviantart and write FreakingOutGirl.**

**There you can find a special thing that appeared in this chapter...**

**Well, read and review, please! **

**Have a great day, my dears!**


	9. Chapter 9 Breakdown

_**Turn back the pendulum**_

**Chapter 9 – Breakdown**

Chapter's music: All I wanted by Paramore

Pieces by Red

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><p>That day, the day that changed everything, rain poured outside. Ichigo watched the dark clouds for minutes, fighting with his responsible side to just lie down on the bed and forget about school altogether. But damn, that side was making it pretty hard, remembering him how he had to skip classes because of his shinigami duties. So, dragging himself out of the bed and into a hot shower, he started to prepare for a day that apparently had nothing extraordinary happening.<p>

When he sat at the kitchen table, where his family was already eating, he just grumbled a hello. He felt a migraine coming and buried his face on his hands, feeling that this day was starting as the worst of the week. Feeling his mood wasn't on his best days, his sisters left him alone and even his father looked at him with concern. He had a suspicion about what made his son so depressed for those last weeks, thanks to a very safe source called Kisuke. The blonde man told him that Inoue-san came one day to his shop and just sat there looking into nothingness; when Yoruichi tried to talk to her, she just crumbled and mumbling Ichigo's name, started crying. Isshin just expected that this delinquent boy he called a son wasn't making the same mistakes he did, trying to keep the person he cared about away.

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><p><em>It happened on his visit to the world of the living, every ten years. He was a high ranked royal guard, so he couldn't enter and leave the Royal Realm wherever he wanted, so he reserved one day every decade to let his curiosity win and let it know how the humans evolved during that time. And that was when he saw her. Her hair shined under the sun like gold, making him follow her path like a stalker. Oh, how he could feel her hands pushing him against a wall and demand what he was doing following her. And that was when he found out that she was spiritual aware; she could see him in his shinigami body. He jumped to the nearest rooftop and just ran away. During the next days he couldn't keep her out of his mind, so he invented excuses with his comrades to leave once again and if he wasn't a legend between the younger ones they would never agree with it. That day he appeared when she was leaving her school and she looked at him and just smiled.<em>

_"So are you a ghost?" she asked without beating around the bush. He laughed and surprising himself told her the truth. She looked at him like he was insane and he thought that he had lost her._

_"Hum, you are a shinigami that sends spirits to a place called Soul Society?" and seeing him opening his mouth, she kept talking. "I'm sorry, you're a_ royal guard_, is that right?" she asked in a stuck up tone that made him laugh. She looked at him and admitted she liked his laugh. He would never feel the same way about it. When he had do leave, at night, she was still trying to make him tell what had made him came down once again, but he wouldn't tell her. Not that night. Not for a long time. She was seventeen and he couldn't take her life from tracks like that..._

_But during the next three years, all his mind could think of was about her, how she believed him when he told her about his identity, how she never thought he was a crazy stalker spirit, how her curiosity demanded that he would tell her more about the royal family, what he did while he was a captain and more important when they would see each other again and he answered the last one with a word: never._

_After those three years, he just gave up. He couldn't keep up like that; his life had lost its meaning... So, one day he asked for a reunion with the king and exposed his situation. The old man was fair, but losing his best fighter would be a big shock to his family. Isshin pleaded for hours, until the man gave him his approval._

_"But I won't help you find a suitable body to live as a human, let's see how you can bear without that" he said with finality._

_When Isshin left to the real world, he didn't know where to find an answer to his problem; he just had to. So, when after two days of roaming around, he found himself in front of a candy shop with a ridiculous high reiatsu he entered, in hope that someone could help him. And that was how he found himself face to face with Urahara Kisuke for the first time._

_The blonde man told him, years later, that he thought he had come to arrest him and for a miracle didn't beat him with his fan._

_When Isshin told him all about his problem, going into details about how wonderful Masaki was, Kisuke felt that he should help this man. But, testing his resolve, trust and most important the truth of his words, he told him his own story: all about his unfair trial and how he had to run because of a maniac. Isshin heard everything, without any biased opinion, since he knew next to nothing about his newest friend's supposedly traitorous actions before he told him about that. And in the end believed him. That was when Kisuke presented him with an invention of his own, a special gigai that worked like a human body, getting sick, old and even dying, just like a normal person. Isshin felt like kissing him, but restrained himself, while he jumped into the gigai. He knew that that body had negative sides; Kisuke had told him about it, his reiatsu would low near a human level for years, until it finally would start getting his reiatsu back. But in that moment, he was leaving the shinigami world behind, he just wanted to be with Masaki and live happily ever after with her. Leaving Kisuke behind, he almost flew, in his new body, to her workplace. He had found out about it in his first day after leaving his old life behind, but never waited for her. He wanted to see her for the first time, in his new life, when he had his own body. When the woman stepped out of the building, he saw her looking at him, like she couldn't believe her own eyes. Dropping her things, she ran towards him, hugging him tightly._

_"I really hoped that you were lying when you said never" was the only thing she said before she kissed him._

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><p>Isshin was brought out of his memories when Ichigo closed the front door with a kick. He really had to teach him some manners when he got home, that and how to treat a delicate woman like Inoue Orihime.<p>

The rain was pouring over his umbrella and he was more wet than dry, but he just couldn't find the strength to be bothered by that. All he could think about was Inoue's expression the previous day, when he was talking with Chad and Keigo, while Mizuiro tapped on his phone.

She saw him turn his back on her and for Chad's expression he just provoked the fall of the drop that made the glass overflow. When he looked at her again, when they were both already in classroom, she was already at her desk, with a blank expression over her face.

A splash of color made him stop right beside the hill that followed the river's course. He was thinking about her, that's why he saw that color, it was just his imagination, he tried to tell himself, but looking carefully he really could see someone near the river.

"Inoue?" he whispered, while the person started her hiking through the mud heading to the road.

"Wait!' he said and before he could stop himself, he ran towards her. The rain and the wind made it difficult, but he got there, right beside her.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here? Are you insane?" he yelled, worry coloring his voice.

"So,_ you_ are talking to_ me_?" she asked, in a wounded tone. Ichigo flinched, seeing how badly he harmed her, but he couldn't regret it, he wanted to protect her from himself.

"I just came here to stop you from hurting yourself!" he answered truthfully. It was the most honest he was to her since the discovery day.

"I don't want your help! I don't want anything from you!" she snapped and her carefully prepared mask crumbled to pieces. "I don't understand what I did for you to hate me! You just keep ignoring me, like I was made of fog! You can't realize how much you hurt me with your actions? I thought you felt guilty because of that hollow and that you tried to keep me away from fight, but it wasn't only the fight that you kept me away! You don't let me come near you anymore!" her eyes were red and puffy, her hair and clothes soaked, her socks and shoes covered with mud and her whole body was shacking, but she was finally saying what she had to and that made her feel free like she didn't in weeks.

"Well, if you don't want me near you, I'll let you alone. I know what I said to Kurosaki-san, but it hurts too much being near you, but at the same so far away! Sometimes I just wish you never came for me in Hueco Mundo, that would save you from my awful company!" and with that, she turned around and started climbing again, leaving a dumfounded Ichigo wondering how in the hell she came to that conclusion. "Well, it was what you wanted, right?" his conscience snickered and he felt a knot forming in his stomach.

When she was halfway the hill, Ichigo finally caught up with what was happening. The wind was so strong, that it probably meant a hurricane was coming. The rain was running down the hill like a waterfall and in the gap of seconds, Inoue's body disappeared under a flood of mud, water and rocks that came from above them. Ichigo screamed and jumped forward, trying to swim through the brown water. He couldn't see her orange air anymore and that made him search with new energy. The flow took them under the river's water and for some moments, Ichigo could see himself, right beside that river, crying under his mother's dead body. He searched desperately, until he found a white spot, her shirt, that called his attention. Swimming forward, he caught her around the waist and brought the girl to the river bank. She was bleeding from her head, probably from one of those rocks. He could feel the flow of water trying to push them to the river again, so he grabbed her in his arms and fought his way out of that place. When he got under the bridge, safe from the flow, he finally had time to take care of her. He compressed her chest multiple times and opened her lips, but when it came to do mouth to mouth he just couldn't, so doubled his efforts on his compression. When she coughed the muddy water, Ichigo fell over his backside and breathed deeply, until he started laughing like an insane person. Inoue opened her eyes and looked at him like she thought exactly that. When he saw her changing to a sitting position, he jumped and pressed her against his chest. He was trembling with cold and an unknown emotion. The boy just wanted to held her against him and even if it hurt like hell, the girl just wanted to be held by him, so she kept her mouth shut and her fists from thrust into his chest and show him how hard he hurt her, and just enjoyed the moment.

"I'm sorry." he said, after what looked like years. She pushed herself backwards and looked him in the eyes. "I was trying to make you hate me, so you wouldn't suffer anymore…" he confessed, in a low voice.

"Kurosaki-kun..." she whispered, watching his conflicted emotion running through his eyes.

"I didn't want you to suffer because of me" he started again, but Orihime stopped him. She wasn't having that conversation again.

"Kurosaki-kun, I'm not a delicate flower, I can fight just like you. If you had paid attention you would realize that I'm no longer the fifteen years old that went with you to Soul Society." Orihime explained, looking into his face. "I got my powers because I wanted to protect the people I care about and in that field I'm not different from you. You tried to protect me by keeping us apart, but that hurt me more than any hollow attack." she confessed, without knowing what he was thinking about her words. She just couldn't keep it all bottled up, she was going to explode sooner or later.

Ichigo observed while the girl in front of him poured her heart. His mind kept going to the fateful day he found out about her feelings. He could understand his side that defended a happy ending, it would be easy, she would make him the happiest man alive, he could already imagine himself waking beside her, kicking other guys' butt to defend her honor and almost unconsciously his eyes traveled to her muddy lips. They were moving in a mesmerizing way, but when her words caught up with his mind, he remembered why he wouldn't let himself be happy that way. Everything he loved got tainted in some way: his mother died, not far away from there, protecting him; his father almost died preparing him to a fight he couldn't ran from and his sisters had to suffer with his absences and the constant peril they were in. No, Inoue wouldn't be the next on his victims' list. She needed a normal man, a happier one that could worshipped her like the goddess she was. He wasn't that man. _"At least for now"_ said a small voice in the back of his head, but he crushed it like a bug. There was no time for hope.

"I know that what I did hurt us and everyone around us, and I'm so sorry for that. I just couldn't think of a different way to protect you." he just hoped that she wouldn't ask him what made her different from Chad, Ishida or even Tatsuki, he didn't know if he could lie to her. But she didn't and he sighed, relieved.

"Apologies accepted." she said, in a low tone, after long minutes of silence were filled with the sound of the storm around them. She didn't know why, but something in his tone made her believe that there was something he wasn't telling her, something she knew was important. But even knowing that, she could feel the sincerity in each word, the pain he suffered himself, the raw emotion he was trying to suppress so the girl wouldn't see him as a weak person. She knew him so well, that her words couldn't be different from the ones she said.

"Let's go to my place or else we'll be sick tomorrow." Ichigo proposed, knowing how much harder it would be to stay near her in the comfy aura of his house. "It's closer than your apartment." he explained, seeing Inoue open her mouth to discord. She sighed and Ichigo pressed his shinigami pass against his chest. Putting his human body over his shoulder and grabbing Inoue against his chest he started their depart. When they got out of the bridge, he felt something warm surround them and saw Inoue surrounding them with her shield.

She blushed when he smiled thankfully and diverted her eyes from the face right in front of her own.

Where her muddy body touched his, she felt so warm, like in her own bed with a mug of hot chocolate in her hands and not in the middle of a hurricane.

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><p><strong>We are close to the moment everyone has been expecting... Next chapter it will happen, I promise! <strong>


	10. Chapter 10 Insight

_**Turn back the Pendulum****  
><strong>_

**Chapter 10 – Insight**

**Chapter's Music: You make me smile by Blue October**

**Find you by Karmina**

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><p>When Ichigo started their descending, she could see through the wild rain his rooftop and when her feet touched the ground, she ran to hide under the porch. Ichigo joined her, already in his human body and opened the door, picking his key from a pocket full of mud. Orihime giggled seeing his disgusted face and he scowled at her, making her smile sweetly. He eyed her, confused at her reaction and the girl just shrugged and kept her mysterious smile.<p>

When they entered the house, they felt like they had run miles and just fell to floor, with their backs to the wall and in front of each other. Ichigo opened his mouth, but was interrupted

"Why aren't you at...?" yelled Isshin, but when he saw who entered with Ichigo his expression changed from annoyed to an upbeat smile. "Inoue-san! How good to see you here! So my stupid son finally took his head from his butt and apologized for his disrespectful behavior?" he asked, eyeing the girl curiously.

"Never mind that we are soaked with mud and we almost died in a flood!" Ichigo replied, with his migraine back.

"Oh no!" Isshin exclaimed, alarmed. "Are you alright, Inoue-san?" the doctor approached the girl and started checking her pulse and her head. Ichigo gritted his teeth, but didn't say anything; at least his father was doing something useful.

"Yes, yes. Kurosaki-kun kept me safe!" Inoue explained, looking at Ichigo. His father patted him in his head, while saying "Good boy".

"What am I? A dog?" Ichigo asked, pushing his father away.

"Well, I am going to grab some bandages to treat your head's wound, but it would be good if you cleaned the area first." Isshin advised, heading to the door connecting the house and the clinic.

"Well, we really should take a bath, I don't know about me, but you look awful!" Ichigo said and Inoue pouted.

"You're mean, Kurosaki-kun!" complained Orihime, but followed him nonetheless.

"I will grab some football shorts from Karin, but..." he looked at her cleavage and quickly averting his eyes, kept talking. "But she or Yuzu doesn't have your size in shirts, so you will have to wear something from by wardrobe. I hope you don't mind..." he said, apologetically and a flash of Inoue wearing his favorite hoodie clouded his mind. He pushed that thought aside and entering his room, gestured to his wardrobe so the girl could choose. She looked around and grabbing something from the inside, brought with her the hoodie from his vision. Ichigo shook his head to clear his thoughts from dangerous paths and lead her to the bathroom.

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><p>"Oh, my boy..." his father's voice came from behind him, while he looked with empty eyes to the bathroom's door. "When you suggested you should take a bath, I was this close" he showed his thumb and index finger almost touching "of making a remark about how someone could take that to a wrong conclusion, but I didn't, so you can see how an awesome dad I am!" he pronounced, proudly, with his chest puffed out.<p>

Ichigo flushed, honoring his name, and punched his father's face against the wall. He descended the stairs and walked to the clinic, where he could take his own bath. Taking his time in the warm water, he thought about his actual situation. Inoue would still be in danger because of her high reiatsu and her natural naivety and keeping his distance didn't work out that well to the both of them, so, what would he do next? She liked him, in a way he would never dream and that information led his imagination to impossible paths until now... Well, he had to take a step at a time and work with what he had...

"Are you dead in there?" Isshin asked, banging the bathroom door. Ichigo grumbled and grabbing his clean clothes and redressing himself, opened the door to a grinning Isshin.

"What's with the stupid expression?" he asked, while his father almost skipped the entire way back.

When they entered the house, the mud spots were nowhere to be seen. Ichigo eyed his father, doubtfully, but looking at the approaching person the mystery was resolved. Inoue was walking with some rags and a bucket of clean water, but what grabbed his attention was how his hoodie looked like it was made to be used by her. Of course its sleeves were much bigger and larger than her thin arms and it reached her mid thigh, but he couldn't shook the thought that invaded his mind **_"Damn, she is beautiful!"_**. The shorts showed her bruised legs with clean bandages around them, just like her head.

"Inoue, why are you cleaning my house? It should be my responsibility to do that or that stupid father of mine!" he grumbled, looking with a menacing expression.

"Kurosaki-kun, it's the least I could do! I got it all dirty with that mud, so it's my obligation to clean my mess! And now excuse me, I have to clean this hallway!" she said in a demanding voice that made Ichigo obey immediately. Damn, he was _so_ wiped!

He followed his father after the man grabbed his arm and pulled the boy behind him, leaving the girl cleaning.

"Let her be. She needs something to take her mind out of that situation. She told me what happened while she was cleaning the stairs." Isshin explained, while his son sat in front of him at the kitchen table. "I'm proud of you... For those past weeks you were not yourself, you were always grumbling and frowning for nothing, even more than normal and even in front of your sisters and it felt like you lost some of your... flame... I don't know if that is the right word, but I do know that what you were doing was wrong and would hurt both of you more than what was reasonable." Isshin said, while eyeing his son with an expression that the boy only saw twice in his life: when he ran away to the river after his mother's funeral and when his father taught him the Final Getsuga Tensho and sent his only son to a fight he wasn't so sure he could survive. "So make sure that that dumb head of yours doesn't pull a stunt like that again, all right? That girl suffered more than we could imagine; for what I know her parents were bad people, her only brother died, her world got turned up, she was kidnapped and God only knows what she suffered there, then came all the memory lost business, so, please Ichigo, don't do more rash decisions about her without telling Inoue-san, she deserves to know..." Isshin shut up and sighed, looking at his son with a deep expression.

"I know that, why do you think I pulled out _that stunt_, as you said. What I did was not right, but I had to try..." Ichigo confessed, in a depressed tone.

"She is already too deep in…" Isshin said, making his son look at him with a confused expression. "You know what I'm talking about and I guess that's the reason for the sudden separation, am I right?"

"Was it that obvious?" Ichigo asked, accepting the hot tea his father made.

"Yes, it was. But you couldn't see it because you were too worried all the time... Why do you think she is always so worried about you? For god's sake, the girl entered a mythical place to save someone she barely knew with next to none offensive powers!" Isshin said, exasperated. Shaking his head at his son idiocy he prepared to left the kitchen, but stopped and turning around commented: "I bet it wasn't your brilliant mind that came up with that, so who did you eavesdrop?"

Ichigo grumbled under his breath his friends' names and Isshin laughed. "You know what they say about people who hears others' conversations!" and still laughing left the place.

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><p>When Inoue entered the kitchen, with a contagious smile, Ichigo had already a mug with hot tea prepared for the girl. She fidget in the middle of the kitchen, blushing, until Ichigo grabbed her arm and made her sit in front of him. She grabbed the mug and smelled the chamomile's aroma, smiling appreciatively.<p>

"Inoue?" Ichigo called, grabbing the girl's attention. He just remembered something that his mind, for the last weeks, tried to repress, but unsuccessfully. "When we fought that hollow, you made him return to his normal form and you kept the other as a prisoner inside your shield... In that moment I didn't thought of it, but now I started wondering, did you start training again?" Ichigo asked, eyeing the girl. She blushed even more and played with a piece of paper that was over the table.

"Urahara-san and Yoruichi-san helped me..." she confessed, fidgeting in her chair.

"How long?"

"A little after all the fullbringers's problems... Please, don't be mad at them! If they didn't help me, I would have done it alone and probably would take way more time to reach this level!" Inoue said, looking desperately at him. "I told you that I don't want to be left behind! I'm capable of protecting the people I love, even if you don't agree. You are not the only who cares about Karakura Town and want to protect it! I do too! And I want to protect you!" Inoue blushed, but couldn't stop herself, like when she yelled at him beside the river. "You have to accept that people want to protect you too! You can't carry the weight of the world alone, please share it with me, let me help you!" she begged, grabbing his hand and holding it between hers.

Ichigo looked at her like it was the first time he saw her. She was right, she was no longer the fifteen years old girl that dreamt of being a robot in the future, the girl that kept her head in the clouds all the time, in front of him was, not a girl, but a woman with all the power in the world to fight beside him and help him win. How could he have been so dumb disdaining her rightful place next to him? Ichigo shook his head and looking at her shining eyes, smiled understandably.

"Thank you for putting some sense into my thick head." Ichigo thanked, squeezing her hands.

Orihime sighed and got up, walking around the table until she was right behind him. She didn't know what she was doing, until she felt her own arms put themselves around Kurosaki-kun's shoulders and chest and her cheek rest over his head.

Ichigo felt his body freeze when the girl's arms fell over his frame, but when he felt her face against his head and the warm that she sent to his body, he felt himself relax and let his hands grab her owns, that were over his heart.

"Thank you..." she whispered against his hair and in that moment all of Ichigo's carefully made plans crumbled like a castle of cards. He jumped to his feet, making the girl almost fell backwards, but turning around he pressed her body against him and his lips against hers.

This time was Orihime's body that froze. Her brain couldn't wrap itself around the idea that the man she loved was kissing her. But when her hands found his warm cheeks and the smell of chocolate, that she always associated with him, invaded her nostrils, she finally accepted it and let her body relax under his touch.

When they departed for air, Ichigo looked at her like a deer caught in the headlights, his cheeks were red like a tomato and his chest was moving like he just ran for miles and miles. He touched his own lips, where Inoue's taste still lingered and for some moments the girl thought he would pass out. He fell over the chair and buried his face on his hands. His shoulders started trembling and Orihime thought that maybe her kiss was so bad that she made him cry.

She approached him with a trembling hand and touched his shoulder. When he looked at her, she saw he wasn't crying; he was laughing.

"Are you laughing 'cause my lips tickle?" she asked, with her heart beating like a hammer.

"No, I'm laughing because I'm an idiot!" the boy said, leaving the healer even more confused. "I kept saying to myself that I should walk away from you and leave you alone and now that I kissed you, I will never be able of doing that. I got stabbed by my own sword!"

"Oh, you should be careful with that, Zangetsu wouldn't like seeing his master hurt" she said, in a worried tone.

"What...?" started Ichigo, but started laughing when the meaning of her words entered his mind. He closed the distance between them and grabbed her hands.

"Please, never stop being like that!" he asked and Orihime nodded, not really sure of what she was agreeing with.

"Oh, and one more thing... Did you talk with my dad about our fight?" Ichigo asked, remembering a detail of her yelling.

"No... Why? Should I?" the girl asked, confused.

"No, it's just you said something about Kurosaki-san and how you talked with..." Ichigo shut up, seeing the girl's face turn beat red.

She fidget on the place, embarrassed and opened her mouth, without knowing what to say that wouldn't make her sound like a crazy person.

Isshin choose that moment to appear at the threshold with a smile and Orihime smiled, relieved. Ichigo noted that and frowned, wondering what could make the girl so embarrassed.

"Inoue-san, I could give you a ride... Yuzu just called asking if I could get them, the school got flooded, so they are sending the kids home and this way you won't have to walk in the rain." the Kurosaki father offered, in a kind voice that made Ichigo really suspicious.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-san for everything!" Orihime said, bowing respectfully.

"You don't have to thank us; it was our pleasure, right Ichigo?" Isshin asked and his son couldn't let go of the feeling his father had a hidden meaning under his words.

Ichigo nodded awkwardly, while Isshin gestured to Orihime to follow him. She grabbed a bag with her muddy clothes and ran behind him.

Orihime kept distracted, at the back seat, the entire way, looking through the window to the windy and cloudy sky, while Ichigo kept his eyes in the rearview mirror. Isshin had to control himself not to burst laughing at the teens' antics. Like a normal father he obviously spied on them through the key hole, almost applauding his son when he finally made a move. He knew the girl would be a good influence, she already was...

"Here we are, Inoue-san!" Isshin announced, parking the car in front of her apartment building.

Before she even took her seat belt, Ichigo was already by her door, grabbing his black umbrella over her head when she opened the door. He walked with her until her door and when he stopped she could see a revealing red color over his cheeks. His hair was hidden under his hoodie and Orihime felt a little down, not being able of seeing that comforting orange.

"Well, see you tomorrow, Inoue." he said in an awkward tone. He looked behind and noticing that his father was playing with the radio, got down and kissed her on the lips.

She felt her heart burst with happiness, but before she could do anything, Kurosaki-kun was already running to the car. She opened her door and waited two minutes, until she was sure he wouldn't hear and then, falling to the floor, she started rolling around, giggling like crazy.

**Kurosaki-kun kissed her... Kurosaki-kun kissed her... KUROSAKI-KUN KISSED HER! **

And then, changing to a standing position, she finally caught up with that. She loved him for a long time and to know that he liked her too... She didn't how to feel, she wanted to sing and jump and dance and eat a whole shop of donuts! She wanted to tell everyone and no one, she wanted to scream out loud and take that sacred secret to the grave... She had so many contrary feelings she felt like she could faint. Controlling her breathing, she headed to the bedroom to change to warmer clothes; Karin-chan's shorts were starting to make her cold, so she changed to her pajama pants, keeping Kurosaki-kun's hoodie, however.

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><p>The next morning was a mess to Orihime's control. She didn't know if that was all a dream, but a look at the shirt she was wearing dissipated all her doubts. She felt bad for not washing his clothing with the rest of it, but the girl just couldn't make herself strip of it...<p>

So, changing to her school uniform and grabbing her school bag and another one with Karin's shorts, she headed to a place where she could finally see if her doubts had any foundation. She didn't know what her relationship with Kurosaki-kun was, but she couldn't make herself regret that kiss and hoped with all her strength that he didn't too...

When she entered the school grounds, her eyes immediately started wondering, until she found one head that called her attention. She ran to the five boys and with a smile, greeted them enthusiastically.

"Hi Kurosaki-kun, Sado-kun, Ishida-kun, Asano-kun and Kojima-kun!" she said in a breath, while her bubbly energy made them happier instantly. However, the boys looked at the carrot top with apprehension. Ignoring their looks, Ichigo waved his hand, while saying a simple "Hey Inoue!" For a moment she felt a little taken back, but when he smiled his rarest smile: the one he gifted her after founding her in that sandy land of Hueco Mundo, she knew all she needed.

"Well, we should go... to class..." Keigo said, cutting the uncomfortable silence that fell over the group.

When they entered the school building, the buzzing was louder than normal and Ichigo, used to be looked with some fear, was not used to be looked with awed expressions like some of his colleagues were doing.

"Did you run over someone's cat?" Ishida asked, noticing the strange behavior as well.

"Not recently…" Ichigo answered, absently. He wasn't really interested in what they were saying about him, keeping his mind occupied with the movements of the girl next to him. But when Inoue's name fell from someone's lips in less than a chivalrous way, he stepped back and grabbed the boy's shirt. And that's when he understood that they were looking at Inoue and not him, like Ishida and he thought.

"What the hell did you say?" Ichigo asked, eyeing the boy with menacing eyes. Behind him, his friends watched surprised.

"A f-friend of m-mine said he s-saw I-Inoue-senpai ki-kissing a strange g-guy..." the boy stuttered, sweating at the throbbing of Ichigo's chin.

Orihime gasped and her friends looked at her, surprised and confused. Ichigo released the boy and looking around, caught a lot of people quickly diverting their eyes.

"So what if she kissed some guy? It would be a lucky one! And if I caught any of you talking about Inoue again, you're screwed!" and the menace in his eyes didn't left any space for doubts.

Inoue almost ran to her classroom, hiding her flaming cheeks, followed by a fuming Ichigo, who sent the dead glare to anyone that looked in Inoue's direction. When the two of them entered the classroom, leaving the boys go to their respective classes, Ichigo once again heard the buzzing of gossip in the air. He slammed the door shut, making the people inside jump and fell silent instantly. Orihime sat at her desk and started drawing, without looking up. Ichigo felt himself loose it again and tried to breathe deeply. Seating behind the girl, he could observe her long hair and how her shoulders tensed every few seconds. When the teacher entered, everyone went to their seats and the boy thought that he finally would be able of being in peace in a place without hearing comments about Inoue and her secret boyfriend. But, boy was he wrong!

Two girls next to him, found History too much of a boredom, so started whispering to each other. For the first minutes he could ignore them, but when their words became rather nasty and very unlady-like, he jumped to his feet, grabbing the entire classroom attention.

"Stop that, you little cockroaches! You don't know anything about her to say shit like that! She would go with some crazy lunatic to save her friends' lives, she would beat herself to protect everyone she cares about and you just start bashing her, with lies and jealous words! You don't know a thing about the powerful being she is!" Ichigo yelled, pointing an accusatory finger to the two petrified girls. Behind him, even blushing Orihime couldn't hide her smile.

"Sit down Kurosaki. Protect your girlfriend's honor another time!" the teacher said, with the intent of embarrass the boy, so he would finally sit.

"Sorry, but I couldn't wait for another time!" the boy said, without caring to correct his teacher, which didn't pass unscathed by the other students. When Ichigo sat, he could hear different comments being said, much more closely to the truth this time.

When they stepped out at lunch time, the entire school already knew that the delinquent was dating the naive girl. Keigo came running; bumping into the entire student body to stood in front of Ichigo and demand the truth. The orange top just nodded with his usual scowl and Mizuiro had to support him, before he could faint. When Orihime stepped out of the class, Ichigo's arm fell over her shoulders and pushed her into the mob. Keigo kept eyeing them with disbelieving eyes; Mizuiro looked rather proud, like a father who sees his son getting the girl; Sado was looking relieved and Ishida was torn between worry, smugness and relieve as well.

It was an odd sight to the students walking in that hallway: a boy with the most menacing scowl someone could imagine and eyes that pierced anyone who looked in his direction and under his arm, a blushing and giggling girl, considered the most beautiful of the entire school, and that in that moment looked like a kid on Christmas Day. And odd couple, indeed…

"You!" a female voice called right behind them. The boys turned around and faced a fuming Tatsuki, with her hands on her hips. So the boys just did the rational thing and stepped back. "I just came back from my tournament and I lost, so I'm really pissed off! So if any of you make some funny remark in front of Orihime I will cut you in small pieces and feed my dogs, got it? I'm the only who can tease both of them, you can say whatever you want to Ichigo, but not in front of her!" and smiling a devious smile, she followed the path the couple took. "I'm going to have so much fun!"

Ishida kept his eyes glued to her retreating form, and smiled fondly.

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><p><strong>Last chapter of flashbacks! In the next we will be returning to the "present", with some fighting scenes to begin with!<strong>

**I'm not really sure about this last scene with the school finding out about them, when I thought about it I thought it was cool, but now rereading it's not fully satisfactory. But I couldn't really think of any other way of people finding out, so...**

**Let me know what you think...  
><strong>


	11. Chapter 11 Flight and Fight

_A new chapter so soon? Yes, since all my animes ended last week - Another, Bleach, Bakuman and Guilty Crown - I had to take my mind from those awesome and brilliant projects and what better to cure my anime-depression than writing a new chapter?_

_ And I'm apologizing beforehand, because I just learned how hard it is to write a fighting scene, at least for me, and if it is not that great it's all my imagination's fault, or lack of, better saying._

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><p><strong>In the last chapter before turning back the pendulum…<strong>

**With the addition of Grimmjow to their mission squad, Ichigo, Renji and Toshiro went to take care of some hollows that are bringing problems to Soul Society, while Orihime, who Ichigo thought would stay with Rukia in Seireitei, goes with the raven haired shinigami to help her in her duties. With the feeling of a doom falling over the two groups will everything be alright?**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11 – Flight and Fight<strong>

_**Chapter's music – Duck and Run by 3 Doors Down**_

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><p>"Where the hell are those freaking hollows?" Ichigo grumbled in Renji's direction. They were at those mountains the entire day, waiting for a fight that with each passing hour looked less and less probable to happen.<p>

"Do I look like a hollow detector? We are here to protect the village and that's what we are doing!" Renji replied with pride. Hitsugaya was sculpting a little ice dragon and Grimmjow was greeting his teeth which made Ichigo even more grumpy.

The river that ran near them filled the uncomfortable silence that fell over the combatants. The sun was almost setting, and the wind was picking up. Two of the four were dying to cut something, since couldn't do that to each other. The mountains surrounding them made the men feel a little claustrophobic, if there was a fight, that environment wasn´t the best to move quickly and release all their power; they were afraid the rocks over them could fall and bury them under meters of grey stone.

Ichigo opened his mouth to curse again, when a sound called his attention and he looked behind, towards the shadowy forest.

And then, from nowhere, a dark aura surrounded them, like a veil was lifted and let them feel the power surrounding them. It felt like dozens of spirits were hiding behind the trees and looking to each other confused, the shinigamis and the arrancar took their swords.

"Where did they come from?" Hitsugaya muttered, seeing the hollows appear. The other ones didn't know, so just kept in silent and adopted their fighting stances.

The hollows looked exactly the same, making their counting a little confusing, so the warriors just jumped forward and started their fight. The monsters were quick; they jumped to the rocks above them and made them fall over their heads, confirming their fears and making their attackers run from the rain of stones. Jumping as well, always looking around to see if there was any attacker behind them, they could escape to an upper level, following the hollows' path. When they finally found a plane place, the fight started again, with the clash of blades against hollows' masks.

"What the hell?" Ichigo asked, when the hollow he just cut rearranged itself, like nothing had happened. Around him, his companions were facing the same problem, cutting and slicing without any effect. Grimmjow was cursing out loud, punching and cutting with all his might; Renji was whipping his Zabimaru, seeing his Bankai being useless against those regenerating monsters and Hitsugaya kept freezing their forces to stop their advance over them.

"Run!" Hitsugaya ordered, in a contradictory tone. His heart whispered for him to stay and fight, even if that meant his death, but his brain was rational and could see how that fight would kill not only him, but his fellow companions as well. He was the chief in command, he had the power to take decisions, but never before he wanted so much to be a simple shinigami. Run from a fight wasn't in his personality… Since he was a child he had to suppress his feelings of ineffectiveness and stand his ground to show that he was no useless being, he was the prodigy; the boy made man, the one that only appeared every century… And in that moment, Gin's face appeared in his mind using the same expression as when he said those words, and then Matsumoto's, Hinamori's, his grandmother's, Orihime's…and those words fell from his lips again.

"Run to the river!" he screamed and the other three looked at him with doubtful expressions.

"We have to create a strategy!" he explained and the others looking to the massive force of hollows and then to the white-haired boy, cursed and followed his orders.

Jumping over the river and running to a cave, hidden behind a waterfall, the four men fell over their backs, breathing deeply.

"What the fuck was that?" Grimmjow yelled, pointing to the direction they came from.

"I don't know! But lower your reiatsu or else they will find us before we have a plan!" Hitsugaya replied in a tense tone. He started pacing around, with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I've never seen anything like that… a hollow that can multiple itself numerous times… I bet the only way we can kill it is destroying the original… but how can we find it?" Hitsugaya kept rumbling under his breath, while Renji and Grimmjow follow his path like they were watching a game of tennis. Ichigo, however, was looking into the wall with an absent expression. He remembered that hollow from somewhere, he knew that, but his awful memory didn't let him reach that truth…

"You know, Rukia told me that while she was at the Human World, Sado and her fought a hollow similar to this one, but instead it had little helpers bomb-like that exploded to injure the hollow's enemies…" Renji said. "Unfortunately we have those freaking multiple clones or twins or what the hell you want to call it…"

"_Twins_…" Ichigo repeated more to himself than the others, but his voice grabbed their attention nonetheless. And then, like a flash, Orihime's face came into his mind… Not her present face… her eighteen years old face, right after she was grabbed by a scorpion like hollow that made her arms bleed…

"I know that hollow!" Ichigo announced to total surprise of his companions. "Years ago, Orihime and I fought it, but at that time it had a twin with him, when he looked at me, after I performed kenso, it was like he was trying to burn my face into his mind…" Ichigo said, remembering how it felt oppressive to be observed like that.

"But, if you fought it, then the spirit must have brought his hatred for you to this life and then, probably consumed by it started evolving into a hollow once again…" Hitsugaya suggested, in a reflective tone.

"But, that way shouldn't he went to hell?" Ichigo asked, confused.

"If his sins were committed during his hollow time, when you cut him, they were forgiven; unless he was a killer as a human his spirit would have a second chance here… but apparently, he used his second chance in the wrong way…"

"Wait, you said it had a twin, right? So, we have to find and kill the two originals and not just one? Or do you think only one evolved into a hollow?" Renji interrupted, in a hopeful tone. Maybe they just had to kill one, and then it would all be gone. But for Hitsugaya's expression, his hopes were quickly crushed into tiny pieces.

"If they were sent to Soul Society at the same time, probably they ended with a ticket to the same place in Rukongai, and ended up finding each other." Hitsugaya explained. "But, right now, we have to think how to kill them and not let ourselves be diverted by possibilities."

"Well, we know the clones' reiatsu, so probably the ones that gave them life have the same one, but a lot stronger. The only problem is if we find their minions and not the originals… But, probably they have to be close and that way we just have to locate it and then crush it!" Grimmjow said, making the other ones look at him with surprise in their faces. "What, can't a guy help around here?" he growled back.

"No, no, be our guest…" Ichigo said in a sarcastic tone that made Hitsugaya sigh and interrupt their bicker before it turned into a fight.

"Actually, Grimmjow's idea is good; the other problem is if the hollows are surrounded by their clones we will tire before we can get them…"

"But that's easy, three of us take care of the clones and the other one kills the hollows. They won't be at their maximum force, because they have their clones to look after…" Ichigo retorted, in a tone that clearly stated he was the one to go after the originals.

The others understood his subtle message and raised their eyebrows, in a wondering expression.

"What? I must be the one he is behind since I sent him here, so I must be the one to kill him!" Ichigo replied, in a heated voice. "Besides, Orihime was also there... I have to do this to protect her as well!" he said with finality.

"Alright, you can go, but bear in mind that our lives are in your hands, so don't act like a reckless child, are we clear?" Hitsugaya said, observing Ichigo's expression turn into an insulted one.

"I never act like a child when people put their lives in danger for me!" he whispered furiously.

"Good, now, what we have to do is slice the most we can and keep them from regroup, this way we are able of opening a path to Ichigo. The problem is we have to wait for them to show their position to know who the originals are, but since they can't be too far from their followers, I expect it won't be a huge problem to surpass…" Hitsugaya said in a tone that made it clear he didn't like all the gaps in their information. But since there was no other way, he had to bear with what he had and fight.

Following his gesture, the other ones exited their refuge, and using shunpo and sonido closed the distance between them and their previous position.

Once again their enemies' presence couldn't be felt. They really were masters of conceal and that made Hitsugaya uneasy; how could a hollow learn that and was it normal for them to be able of create clones of themselves? For Renji's words, Rukia and Sado fought something that had a similar ability, but he couldn't stop thinking that those bomb-likes things couldn't be compared to their present enemies… something in his subconscious whispered to him words of careful and suspicion.

It took them a few minutes to find the hollows' reiatsu. This time they weren't hiding it; actually, it looked like they were purposely waiting for their enemies to find them. The four stopped in their tracks and trading a look between them, jumped forward and started their descending over the hollows.

"You bastard, take that you useless piece of shit!" Grimmjow screamed, slashing his sword like crazy.

"Be careful you damn lunatic!" Hitsugaya replied, when the hollow he was fighting disappeared in front of him after a move from the arrancar.

"You're welcome!" Grimmjow said, turning around to cut the regrouped being that was appearing behind him.

"You're just like Kurosaki!" Toshiro yelled, cutting two at the same time. Hyōrinmaru sliced and three turned into ice. His master looked around, but only a few seconds later another hollow broke the ice and his brothers started to ascend again.

Zabimaru screeched against another hollow, while Renji tried to kick other with his left foot. He could feel a really strong reiatsu behind the massive wall of opponents and breathed in relieve for two reasons: there was only one presence and it wasn't hidden, so Ichigo would easily go get it. And in a millisecond he felt his friend pass behind him at high speed, ready to end that tiring and frustrating mission.

"Oh oh oh! There you are!" the hollow said in a sing song voice, when Ichigo stopped in front of him.

"Don't have time to talk!" he replied, moving forward, with his zanpakutou pointing to the spirit's mask.

"_You know, this is not the place where you should be_…" the hollow said, cryptically, moving so quick that he escaped Ichigo's attack.

"This is exactly where I should be! Now prepare to regret for your sins!" Ichigo advised, calling a massive force of reiatsu to his sword. The hollow disappeared from his position, and reappeared behind Ichigo, kicking him in the back and making him jump a few steps until he stopped himself and turned around.

"Man, you are so dead! I was going easy on you, but now…" Ichigo said, smiling in a threatening way. No one ever attacks Kurosaki Ichigo in the back!

"_I'm not the one you should worry about_…" the hollow kept saying, while a Getsuga Tensho, cut the distance between it and Ichigo and erased it's entire presence. Ichigo observed while the others hollows started to melt away and his companions dropped their arms a little. Still looking around, waiting for another attack, they wouldn't let their guard totally down; they would just rest in a manner that could easily turn into a fight stance again.

"There was only one…" Renji said, in a doubtful, yet hopeful tone. The other ones nodded, but couldn't shake the feeling that it was too easy.

"We should send a hell butterfly and call some shinigamis to patrol this region. If there is another one, it could be close…" Hitsugaya suggested and ruffling with his shihakusho took out a black object that spreading its wings showed the true nature of its form. The butterfly flew to Toshiro's index finger and he whispered his message to it. The messenger took flight, heading to Seireitei, and the four men followed its path with their eyes, until it disappeared in the dark sky.

"What should we do now?" Renji asked, looking from one face to another. "Do you want to take a look around?"

"At least, that way we can be useful." Ichigo replied, turning around and walking towards the shadows, without waiting for any more words.

"Drop your reiatsu!" Hitsugaya ordered, in a tired tone. Kurosaki was really starting to get on his nerves. The man never listened to him, always getting into situations head on, never respecting his place as a Captain… _If he wasn't so damn tall he would just hit the back of his head!_

Ichigo nodded and waved, without looking behind, always keeping his path towards the trees. Renji mimicked his movements, and walking into an opposite direction, started his own investigation. Grimmjow just fell over a rock and closed his eyes, like he was ready to take a nap. Toshiro felt tempted to kick his head, but breathing deeply, controlled that violent thought and followed his companions' actions.

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><p>After two hours, the hell butterfly came back, hovering over Hitsugaya's head until he extended his index finger and let it land. As soon as he heard the message, he knew something was not right. That was not an answer to his own message; actually, it disregarded that entirely. And it wasn't Matsumoto's voice that he heard, coming from the butterfly, like he was expecting. It was Unohana's and for her tone, something bad happened.<p>

**_"Please, come back! Something terrible happened. Bring Ichigo-san directly to Abarai Household. Don't let him know that something is wrong. It was Orihime-san…We need you here."_**

Hitsugaya knew that something happened, something bad, something that involved the woman he learnt to love over the years like a clumsy and naïve older sister. He felt his heart rate speed up, his breath started to come into raspy puffs of smoke under the chilly air and for some moments he had to stop himself from losing control and run back to Seireitei. He closed his eyes, called Orihime's image from earlier to the front of his mind, hugging him in a familiar-invading personal space kind of way and let the calm fell over his body. She was alright, she was going to be alright, he knew that; it was probably a fall or a tricky hollow, but she was strong, she could beat anything; he had to believe in that to do what he had to do. He had a facade to preform, he was the Captain, the reason in that group, he couldn't let his emotions rule over him, even if he felt like his insides were being torn by an iron hand. Walking towards their meeting place, Toshiro rehearsed what he was going to say, hoping that his eyes wouldn't betray his state of mind.

"We can go back. They say they already sent some shinigamis and they are already getting here." the captain said, in an icy tone.

"Shouldn't we wait for them?" Renji replied and Hitsugaya's eyes fell over him.

"_No_! They said it wouldn't be necessary. Since they already know what to expect we must go back!" he hoped the urgency in his voice would pass as being annoyed by the fight, but he wasn't that lucky.

"Something happened?" Ichigo asked, immediately. For half an hour or so, he felt like his heart wanted to jump out of his chest and he just couldn't understand why. There was no danger or enemy in sight, he wasn't in the middle of a fight… probably it was the lack of action and the absence of Orihime's calming reiatsu that made him act that way. He had to get a grip on himself and stop being always worried about her. That way he would die of a cardiac attack before he turned thirty.

"No." Hitsugaya denied, in a faked bored tone. "I just want to go back and see if Matsumoto ended those reports…"

Renji got up from the ground and dusting off his clothes, put Zabimaru in its resting place. Grimmjow also got up from his rock and started walking towards the road.

Hitsugaya wanted to run to Seireitei, but that way Ichigo would know something was not right and Unohana told him precisely to kept that information to himself. Seeing the orange haired man flash step in front of him in a higher speed than it was normally used, more like he was in a race, made the captain think if, in the back of his mind, he knew something bad happened… Toshiro just hoped that bad meant the need of a good night sleep and some grumble from Ichigo about Orihime's naivety. And without realizing it, Hitsugaya Toshiro prayed in his mind for the first time since he left Hinamori Momo in the 4th Squad barrack to be treated by a wound he perpetrated, ten years ago.

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><p><strong>Yes, I know, I'm such a mean author... Sorry for the cliffanger, but it really had to end here... ;)<strong>

**Let me know your thoughts about the fighting scenes and what you think will happen in the next chapter...**


	12. Chapter 12 Broken Promises

**Chapter 12 – Broken Promises**

**Chapter's music – Night of the Hunter by 20 Seconds to Mars**

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><p>He could see them: walking, looking, wondering, waiting to be hunted. He wanted to rip their throats, make them pay for what they did to him, but no, he had to wait, he was not meant to kill the women… Those were her words, those were her orders…<p>

He could taste their reiatsu in his tongue and a past memory entered his mind… oh yes, he had tasted one of them many years ago… the blood, the reiatsu, it was like anything he ever tasted, the tickle in his skin when he grabbed his prey, the energy he would take away to his benefit and revenge, but no, he had to come and stop him, he had to come and dispose him of his achievement, he had to come and send him to this world, where, for a long time, he felt like the most powerless being. But he was found; he was found and given an opportunity to take what that bastard stole from him. She gave him power and a purpose to fight for: revenge over those that defeated him and his brother.

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><p><em>While he was a human living being he would never had the guts to do what he did after become a hollow. Oh, he wanted to, but his conscience never left him alone, never leaving him have his fun the way he wanted. He saw them walking on the sidewalks, smiling, chatting around, looking around the shops, eating and he felt like he was stuck in the same place, while everyone lived their lives, leaving him behind in the shadows. Those, who got everything they wanted, never looked at him twice, he was a ghost… and only after becoming one, he started his life.<em>

_He liked to chase, the feeling of becoming a hunter running behind his prey, teasing them, isolating them, eating them… He started to get more powerful and when his sense of control won over his brother, the man came to him, to share of his power, killing himself in the process to achieve immortality. But when they finally perfected their process, they had to come, the orange haired teenagers, the bastard and his bitch! They sent his brother and him here, but now, after all this years he could finally get his revenge. Oh, he felt them one time when they came to Soul Society, some years after living in Rukongai, and feeling their reiatsu his old memories become stronger and his hatred for them grew like a poisoning weed, taking over his mind and body. He convinced his brother to participate in their revenge and was going to get it if they weren't caught at midway. A man, in his fifties stopped them and told them he knew what they were going to do and that they would get killed in the process. The two brothers looked at him, trying to discern his face over the shadows, and the man smiled and took a step forward to let them see his face. They didn't know him, but his eyes told them he was someone that no one should mess with._

_"I work for someone who has a plan to make them pay, but we will need some allies and you two looked like the perfect set to start our small enterprise…" the man said, smiling. "Yes, you have enough reiatsu and have your hearts at the right place… in a dark, very dark place…"_

_And that was when they started to became gods… when their revenge started to take form under an old grudge… The man told them his story, all that happened with him that made him a pariah to his own kind, when all he wanted to do was win what was their rightfully… And under someone else's orders, the three men were going to achieve that._

They were getting closer… He had to control himself to stop his reiatsu from leaking, unless he wanted to spoil the surprise, and that was something that couldn't happen. He shouldn't kill them, he knew he was going to get punished, but now, anything else other than his revenge didn't matter. He was going to get her!

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><p>"Rukia-chan, are you sure there is a hollow in here?" Orihime asked, eyeing the place with doubts.<p>

Rukia herself was starting to doubt the information all together and her rage was starting to break through; if she saw the shinigamis that gave her false information she would throw them against her wall and make them clean the mess their blood would probably do. It was already later that she imagined it would take to finish off the hollow; the sun was totally hidden behind the mountains and the moon was already shining over them in an ominous light.

"Heads will roll!" Rukia said, threateningly and Orihime put a reassuring hand over her shoulder.

"Maybe another shinigami took care of it and your subordinates didn't know about that…" the healer said, in a calming tone.

"Yes, maybe…" Rukia grumbled, in a more peaceful tone. "But, I made you come here for nothing. You were sick, you should be resting!" and guilt spread all over Rukia's expression. Orihime felt bad with herself for making her friend feel like that and Unohana's voice resonated inside her head. No, it wasn't time for that, she had to keep her head in the game.

"Well, I suggest we return, apparently it was just wasted time." Rukia said, sighing in defeat. Orihime nodded and the two of them started their retreat, with their minds into their own worries.

A ruffle in the leaves made them turn around, but just found emptiness where they could swear they heard something or someone, a millisecond ago. A disturbance of the air, behind them, made them turn again and jump back when a gigantic hollow appeared in front of them. Orihime's eyes widen in recognition when the hollow stepped out of the shadows and the moonlight enlightened his monstrous features.

"You remember me…" the hollow said, smirking.

"Yes, but it's been years…" Orihime whispered, while backing away. Rukia already had her zanpakutou ready and while Orihime was distracting it, she jumped over him, ready to strike, when another shadow moved in her periphery vision. A hollow, with some similarities with the other one, tried to kick her, but she flash stepped away, appearing behind his masked head and cut it. Falling over the points of her feet, she smiled to the other hollow and tried again her attack, being stopped once again by the hollow she just defeated.

"What the…?" she said, not wanting to believe in what her eyes were telling her. She just destroyed it, how could it return again?

Behind her, Orihime was jumping behind her shield, sending Tsubaki to cut the hollow, but when his two companions draw their shield to reverse the hollowfication, the hollow just started laughing and with a movement of its hand pushed them away. She couldn't use her power in its fullest, she knew she had to protect her own body from any attack at any cost, and that was making it hard to keep up with the hollow's blows.

"Your little trick won't work again… my associate made sure I could support it without being affected…" the hollow said, in a mocking tone.

Orihime rejected her position, and appearing behind the hollow, tried to kick his head. He turned around, grabbed her leg and pushed her away, just like he did with her fairies. Orihime stopped midair calling her shield and, being supported by it, jumped forward and tried to punch him, while Tsubaki attacked him from behind. The hollow disappeared from his position and Orihime and Tsubaki almost crashed. Turning around, she escaped his kick and put her shield in front of her. She could see his stinger, in the end of his tail, moving threateningly and she knew if that thing pierced her, it would be the end.

Rukia was having similar problems, every time she sliced the hollow it appeared again, and it took her one minute to understand the other one was probably the thing that kept him alive, just like that hollow she fought with Sado in her early days in the Human World. She just hoped Orihime could take care of him, before she got too tired of killing his minion over and over.

"You know, when I was a kid I really liked playing hide and seek…" the hollow said, when he finally was quicker than Orihime's shield and punched her in the face. She went flying against something soft, and when opening her eyes, Rukia's eyes were observing her. But before they could trade a word, two attacks fell over them and they jumped apart and turned around to take care of their enemies.

This time, Orihime was fighting with the clone and quickly learnt that a disappearance was no sign of victory. She could hear Rukia's curses and her blade rippling against the air, missing the hollow in successive tries. It was abnormally fast, so only one person couldn't get him from running around. So, using Tsubaki to cut the hollow and Baigon, Hinagiku and Lily to generate her imprisoning dome, when the hollow regrouped itself she already had her defense ready to keep the hollow from attacking. After detaining him she ran to Rukia and the two of them started their double attack. With Orihime jumping to his face and Rukia from behind, the hollow had a small gap to run away and Rukia felt her blade cut his flesh.

"_Yes, he can be caught!_" she thought, and showing her thumbs up to Orihime, they pounced on it again. Tsubaki joined them, slicing the hollow wherever he could get and they thought luck was finally starting to turn their side. But then a sudden burst of reiatsu made them jump backwards and the hollow finally freed itself from his attackers. He kicked Rukia in the face and she flew through the air, until she was able to stop her descend. She spited a bit of blood and looked up, with fire in her eyes. But that fire extinguished in a matter of seconds. Orihime, worried about her, turned her back to the hollow and even weakened, his stinger worked perfectly fine, piercing Orihime's chest and coloring her white blouse with red. When the stinger disappeared from her body, a huge hole could be seen, with blood running like a cascade from it. Shadows, pain and desolation surrounded the bubbly human, her Shun Shun Rikka's voices disappeared and she felt her body loose his strength and fall. She could still feel part of her reiatsu inside her, protecting it, but she could no longer call that energy and heal herself. It was like cold water was rushing through her veins, freezing her body and mind. Rukia screamed and in a second was supporting Orihime's weight. When she looked around, the hollow was nowhere to be seen and his clone was slowing disappearing under Orihime's dome. The dome itself was disappearing and even Tsubaki returned to the hairpins. The two of them were alone.

"Orihime, wake up!" Rukia screamed, shaking the girl to try and bring her back.

Her eyelids trembled and the brown of her irises appeared under two slits of skin. Rukia breathed in relieve, seeing Orihime opening her mouth and, in a last gasp of air, she whispered.

"I'm sorry Ichigo, I broke my promise…"

* * *

><p>"Ichigo, is everything alright?" Renji asked, seeing Ichigo sped up with each passing second.<p>

"I don't know, but I have to go to Seireitei right now!" Ichigo replied, and without waiting for his comrades, disappeared from their sight. Toshiro tried to chase after him, but Renji's hand stopped him.

"What's going on?" he demanded, seeing the distressed face of the captain. Hitsugaya looked at him, without knowing what to say. So, shaking his head, he increased his speed and chased Ichigo, leaving Renji and Grimmjow with confused expression on their faces.

"Damn, it took me too long!" Ichigo thought, when he finally entered Seireitei. He ran into the city, trying to feel Orihime's reiatsu. She was probably asleep in Rukia's house, so it was the first direction he took, but when he was approaching the place, a familiar, but weak reiatsu called his attention. She wasn't at Rukia's house… she was at the 4th Squad barracks… Feeling his heart race, he flew to that direction, almost crashing with someone at midway. He looked around, ready to scream with the unknown person, but when his eyes fell over the trembling form, he felt a raspy breath fell from his lips.

"Hanatarou…" he grumbled and the boy looked up and palled.

"Kurosaki-san…" he whispered and then started sobbing. "I'm s-sorry; I tried to do eve-everything I-I could, C-Captain Unohana to-too, but i-it spread, I'm so so s-sorry…" he said, grabbing Ichigo's sleeve.

"What happened?" Ichigo asked, feeling his insides contract and for some seconds he thought he was going to throw up.

Hanatarou's eyes broaden and he tried to back up, but the wall and Ichigo's fist stopped him.

"What the fuck happened?" he roared like a wild beast and Hanatarou yelped.

"Orihime-san… she is dead…"

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><p><strong>Ok, don't send me your inner hollows, please! (cowering behind a rock)<strong>

** This scene was planned since the begining, but please bear with me and keep reading, you might have a good surprise... ;)**


	13. Chapter 13 Dark Path

My Easter present for you all! Happy Easter!

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 13 – Dark Path<strong>_

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><p><strong>Chapter's Music - Running up that hill by Placebo<strong>

**Forgiven by Within Temptation**

**Amazing by Blue October**

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><p><em>Orihime's cheeks were flushed the first time they had lunch together as a couple.<em>

_Orihime's hands were trembling the first time he introduced her to his family as his girlfriend._

_Orihime's eyes were brimming with tears when he gave her his mother's favorite book that was also her favorite._

_Orihime's hair was coloring her pillow with orange and brown the first time he woke up next to her._

_Orihime's lips were apart, in a breathtaking smile, while she walked down the aisle._

Orihime's heart was telling him the truth when she promised she would be okay, then why said Hanatarou those things? That was easy, the boy was drunk or it was Grimmjow's idea of a sick joke…

Then, if the boy was lying, why was Kurosaki Ichigo running full speed to the 4th Squad? Why was his heart missing from his chest like he had just left it behind? Why were his eyes stinging and aching so much? Why was his breath coming in raspy puffs of smoke? Why were all those moments, spent with his wife, kept flashing in the forefront of his mind?

The barracks were already in sight, but he didn't decrease his velocity. He entered the house, running through the hallways and searching, always searching…

"_Ichigo_…" a voice whispered, from somewhere in front of him. He looked down and saw Rukia sitting on the floor, with her chin over her knees and her arms hugging her legs. Her face was red, her eyes puffy and tracks of tears could be seen, shining under the moonlight.

"You want to know something? Hanatarou is totally drunk! He is saying the most ludicrous things! The boy is totally out of his mind! What he is saying are impossibilities! They can't be real! Rukia, why are you crying? Please, stop crying! Stop those fucking tears! Just answer me, damn it! Why the hell are you here? Is Orihime sleeping? Rukia, answer me! Please, Rukia, I already told to stop crying! Why are you hugging me? Stop that you midget, _stop stop stop stop_…

His voice rose in the middle of his rambling, with his eyes running to different directions every second, like they were looking for a solution, a shiny window to illuminate his gloomy mind, but when Rukia hugged him, his voice turned into a whisperer, repeating the word _stop_ over and over, like a mantra. Like that could turn everything alright…_ But everything was not alright…_

"I'm sorry…" Rukia mumbled, under her sobs. "She was protecting me and…" but her body shook again and the words failed her.

Ichigo felt his chest arise and a scream, that just an animal in profound pain could release, could be heard falling from his lips. His fist punched the window, opening a hole and his knees shook and lost his strength, making him fall to the floor.

"How…? I can feel her reiatsu, it's there, behind the door… I feel it, I feel it, she is there, she is waiting for me, she is, she is…" he whispered, with his forehead touching the floor and his eyes closed.

Rukia felt her chest tighten even more.

"It's not her reiatsu…" she whispered, feeling the lump in her throat grow; how much could her friend bear before falling totally apart. Deciding she was the one that should tell him, she grasped her last ounce of courage and whispered: "Orihime was pregnant…"

"_Pregnant…?_" the man gasped, feeling like his insides wanted to come out in a painful way.

"Yes, it's the baby's reiatsu you're feeling… but…" and she didn't have to continue for Ichigo to understand. **You won't feel it for much longer**, was what she couldn't say. His child was dying too and he couldn't do anything to save that precious being…

It was like his body was being trapped under heavy rocks: he couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he only could look in front, to that apparently normal door that in his mind turned into the most vicious and bloody monster he could imagine. Just imagining Orihime, his wife, the love of his life, quiet, silent, cold, made his mind went into a state of stricken horror; he could no longer tell where he was, he could only see dark, feel pain and hear screams. Screams that sounded like hers, yelling his name, calling for his help, while he did nothing to protect her, leaving her alone to suffer…

Behind them, steps could be heard and three people appeared: Hitsugaya, Renji and Grimmjow, the last two with confused expressions. But, seeing Rukia and Ichigo acting like that, Renji knew immediately what happened and felt his stomach being punched by an iron fist. He walked slowly to Rukia and his arms surrounded her petit frame, crushing her against his chest. She started sobbing more violently and Renji felt his own eyes sting and the tears start their descending. What the hell was happening with the world? Was that so hard to keep one innocent person away from all the bad things in here? He felt his hands curl and his knuckles became white when his fingernails pierced his skin and the small drops of blood dirtied Rukia's back even more.

Hitsugaya already had a suspicion of what might have happened but seeing it with his own eyes was too much to bear. He failed as a protector to Momo, Matsumoto and now Orihime… He made them trust in him, just to let them down again and again and again… And now, he wouldn't be able of apologize to her ever again… She liked to hug him in public, make him blush and stutter, never called him captain, invaded his personal space with her bubbly energy, but she was like a sister, a terribly annoying older sister that always would smile proudly when she saw his ice statues, that would always remember his birthday even when no one would, that in the Winter took thousands of pictures of snowy sets just to send him… He felt his own feet gain life and before he could comprehend what was happening he was already running, heading to his old cave, where he could mourn and scream without anyone hearing him. Without anyone know that Hitsugaya Toshiro wasn't an icy captain, that he was only a child lost in a senseless world, **where that ray of sunshine was no longer**.

Grimmjow looked from shinigami to shinigami, without knowing what to say. He was an arrancar, he didn't feel emotions like sadness or sorrow or grief, he kept himself alive for the desire to fight, to beat his next opponent, and seeing those warriors break down like that, he felt immensely relieved of not being able of feeling like that. It was unbearable to watch, so he turned his back on them and walked through the house.

"We_ failed_ them…" a familiar voice traveled through the air.

Grimmjow looked in front, seeing Nell sitting in a balcony, looking up, at the moon.

"We did what we could… I believe you were with the human man?" Grimmjow asked and Nell's back tensed.

"His name is Sado Yasutora, he went to visit a small boy he saved from a hollow and gave him a little bird made of paper…" Nell said. "They have names, they have emotions, feelings, desires, dreams… I want to be like that… I want to look at the moon and see a smiling face, I want to see figures in the clouds…" Nell sighed and her shoulders shook. Grimmjow was petrified, she was _**crying**_, she was an arrancar and she was crying for a human girl! She could feel just like them, the ones he left behind because he couldn't bear their suffering…

"**Fuck!**" he yelled. "That's not your fault, that's not my fault! We couldn't do anything…"

"I'm not like this because I feel guilty…"

"You don't?"

"Of course I do… but I know I couldn't have done anything… I'm feeling like this because we are not so different from them as you think… We can feel too… and I wouldn't trade this wrenching emotion for an empty heart… ever…"

Grimmjow scowled, but nevertheless, sat next to her, and look at the moon too.

"I can't see a smiling face…" he confessed after some seconds of concentration.

"Me neither…" Nell replied, in a sad tone.

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><p>Ichigo got up, supporting part of his weight against the wall and started walking, in a numb state, to the door that hidden his hell on earth. For moments he stopped, with his hand over the door, feeling like he was walking against an ocean of water, like all the heaviness of the world was keeping him from opening it. And when his hand moved from its own accord and the door revealed its horrors, he stepped inside.<p>

Her skin was ashen colored, paler than he ever remembered seeing it.

Matsumoto was squeezing one of her hands and Unohana, noticing Ichigo, prayed the woman away, helping her to a sitting position. Chad and Shinji were sat, in a corner of the room, looking to a green wall like it would hide all the secrets in the world. Their eyes were unfocused, _death-like_, and apparently didn't notice Ichigo's entrance.

He approached his wife's still form, noticing how her lips were turning bluish, how the red shadow took over her body, taking her away from him, _how her eyes remained closed…_

Ichigo kneeled next to her, his tears falling freely and, surrounding her cold frame with his arms, pulled her against his body, like he could give her the warm she was missing. His hands curled around her hair, feeling the silky locks touch his skin when he buried his face in her neck, smelling her vanilla and chocolate shampoo. He couldn't understand why she wasn't moving… what Rukia said, what Hanatarou said… they were insane, crazy, his Orihime would never leave him, not when she promised she would be alright, not when he wasn't there to defend her and to yell at her for being reckless. Why did he have to leave with Renji? He should have cancelled the trip when everything was still alright… he could have done so many things and now…

It was like being stuck in a nightmare, but this was no nightmare; this was reality, a cold, pain wrecking reality. A reality he couldn't escape, a reality where she would never scold him for overworking, where she would never tease him with her sweet smile, where she would never wait for him until late, just to tell him she loved him, a reality that was more nightmare-ish than all his dark visions and suffering past, a reality he didn't want to exist in…

"Please, open your eyes, please just do it! It's such an easy thing, why aren't you doing it?" his voice turned a little angry, to the next moment a begging tone take control over it.

**_"Please Orihime, I will bring you to all the donuts shops in Japan, _**

**_I will let you eat everything you want, _**

**_I will eat everything you want,_**

**_ I will wear that stupid pink apron every day, _**

**_I will let you have weird conversation with my old man,_**

**_ I will give you that damn cat you fell in love with,_**

**_ I will never let you out of my sight again, _**

**_I will protect you from everything… _**

**_Just let me see your eyes once again, just let me hear your voice, your laugh, you know how I love your carefree laugh… Please, don't leave me alone, I won't bear it again! Just take me with you, don't leave me behind! I need you! I need you and our baby, our weird and dysfunctional family, our crazy friends, they all need you. Please, don't let me fall to the shadows; don't take my light from me!"_ **

Ichigo's voice rose, in a panic-stricken tone, crushing the heart of everyone that could hear him. That was the sound of a man that just lost his most precious thing, his treasure, his light, and now was left to walk alone through a dark path.

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><p><strong>That was really hard to write, I hate to imagine Ichigo in such a state. It breaks my heart! But for the sake of this story I had to make him suffer through this...<strong>

**On a positive note, next chapter will be lighter and way more... what can I say... miraculous-like...**


	14. Chapter 14 Lighten my steps

**Since tomorrow is my mother's birthday and she is the best, I felt compelled to write about another awesome mother.**

**This is dedicated to everyone who had nearly heart failures during the last two chapters!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 14 – Lighten my steps<strong>

**Chapter's music – _Fallen Angel and Crucify my Love (violin instrumental) from Rurouni Kenshin Soundtrack (Rurouni Kenshin is the best! Soundtrack and manga, since I prefer that ending than the one from the anime and I totally refuse the OVA's ending, even the creator said that in his ending they lived happily ever after!)  
><em>**

_**Angel by Katherine Jenkins**_

_**We are broken by Paramore**_

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><p>The sun was rising on the horizon, coloring the sight with orange and yellow colors. Its rays could reach beyond the mountains, waking up all the souls in the vicinity.<p>

The two men were sitting in front of a grand house, looking at the birth of another day. A day that could only bring more sadness and grief. They had live for a long time; saw many days rise and shine and then fall and all the darkness take the world under its domain; they walked through many roads, learnt many things and thought one or two to the younger ones… But, even knowing that all the lives had their period of time and the sun would arise for the end of many of them, they couldn't make themselves understand how such an awful thing could happen to that person.

"Jushiro…" the bearded man said, after a long night of silence.

"Yes, Shunsui?" his companion replied, looking at him.

"Do you think we could find her soul and bring her here?" Shunsui asked, without looking at his friend.

He already knew that his friend's mind would take him to that road, sooner or later. The man was still looking at the sun, but Jushiro knew what was going through his mind. He was prisoner of his past, looking into a life that could no longer return.

"You still miss them that much?" Jushiro wondered, seeing the man's eyes darken at his words.

"Every day, for the last five hundred years, I've been waiting for them… and in that girl I finally saw her eyes…" Shunsui whispered, closing his eyes when the sun shined directly in them. He touched his kimono in a caring way, trailing the flowers design, with his eyes still closed, like he had done that for a very long time.

"Ayako's or Moriko's?"

"Ayako's… they look so much alike… sometimes I caught myself wondering if she could be my daughter's reincarnation, you know, and now if she was, I lost her again and again because of a damn hollow…"

"You can't be sure…" Jushiro said, trying to pacify his old friend. He shook his head with certainty and silence fell over them again.

The man they learned to respect and love like a son spent the entire night looking blankly into his love's deathly face. They would say his eyes had lost all the fiery force that made him Kurosaki Ichigo. He turned into a shell of the man he was. He was alive only because his heart kept beating, his soul, they would say, was in the same place as Orihime's, searching for her, until they could be reunited again. And that made them even sadder; they have lost two heroes that night, because, without the queen, the king just suffered his check-mate in a game of life and death.

* * *

><p>When the sun touched the house, warming the front wall, the men felt their hearts give a little squeeze and they jumped to a standing position.<p>

"Did you feel it?" Shunsui asked, eyeing his friend inquiringly. The other man nodded and both of them ran into the house, slamming against Matsumoto and Hanatarou in their hurry and almost making the younger ones fall.

"Did you feel it, Captains?" Matsumoto asked and they nodded. They didn't need words to know what to do next, so the four of them started their race once again, bumping into each other in their haste. Ukitake was breathing with some difficulty, but even with that he wouldn't decrease his speed.

They passed the hole in the wall, without really noticing it and slided open the shoji door, almost ripping it from the threshold.

Inside, the sunlight was so strong they had to shield their eyes with their hands but, when their minds grasped the reality of what they were witnessing, they understood it wasn't the sun that blinded them momentarily. The light wasn't coming from the window. It came from a spot on the floor, where a man was rocking a body against his own. A body that was releasing incredibly amounts of reiatsu. A body that was surrounded by a golden dome. A body that was quickly gaining a pinker color. A body returning to life.

The four newcomers saw how Unohana's eyes shined with happiness seeing the miracle happening in front of her. They saw how Sado Yasutora and Hirako Shinji's eyes were brought to life once again. They saw how the man, on the floor, looked to the body in his arms and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. And they almost saw the moment when the woman opened her eyes,_ if_ it wasn't for Abarai Renji and Abarai Rukia that came running behind them and made them crash into the room's floor.

* * *

><p><strong><em>She felt the stinger pierce her chest. She felt the blood run from her body like a red waterfall. She felt her limbs aching like they were on fire. She saw Rukia's mouth opening in horror, in a scream she couldn't hear; she was deaf to the world. And then, she was frozen with cold. She couldn't move, she couldn't talk or scream, she didn't know if she was death or alive. She felt like one of those ice statues, stuck in the same place, watching the world passing by, except, she couldn't see anything apart from the pitch darkness surrounding her. But, after what seemed like forever or could be just a second, she couldn't be sure, a warm light enveloped her and she started regaining her sense of touch, hearing and smell. She could feel two strong arms enveloping her against a hard surface; she could hear a breathing next to her hear that tickled her neck and she could smell chocolate all around her body. She knew the owner of those arms that were made to carry a sword but could also warm her to the core; she remembered all the times his breathe over her face made her blush and stutter and lose all the control she had over her body, and in the forefront of her mind, she could remember and taste that lingering scent in her mouth, like a long well deserved desert, kept in an arm's reach, but always a millimeter too far away. She started to feel the heaviness of her eyelids and fought against it, trying to open her eyes and look at him. However, her body was a strong opponent, it was like it was begging to remain in that oblivion, away from the pain and sadness and regrets. But she knew life was not only those negative feelings; if it was years ago she would happily surrender to the dark veil, just to see her brother, just to run away from being a burden to others, but now she had someone else to protect, to fight for and she knew her own value. Her love's face came to the forefront of her mind, not his adult one or even his teenager's, but the one she always idealized he had as a child. A face she wanted to see in real life in her own baby. A face that made her eyelids lighter and helped opening her eyes, just like the child was there, giving her the push she needed.<em>**

* * *

><p>At first, she only saw gold: a golden light that surrounded her and made her feel warm and content. Then, her eyes saw orange, as in a spiky orange hair that seeing her awake obstructed her vision from the golden light.<p>

"Orihime…" he whispered, in a trembling voice that shocked the woman. She never heard that man talk like that, in such a defeated and scared tone. It made her feel nauseous and started trembling.

"Are you cold?" he asked, softly. And then, turning around he growled to someone. "Bring some freaking blankets! Are you all blind? She is trembling!"

"I'm not cold…" she whispered in a raspy voice.

Ichigo looked at her and then he started crying, which scared her the most. She patted his shoulder, trying to understand what was happening, but wherever she looked, everyone had the same expression, which was really starting to freak her out.

"Why are you looking like someone just died?" Orihime asked and Ichigo released her immediately to look at her face. For some moments, she thought he was going to start sobbing, with his trembling lips, but then, he just started laughing like a madman. Orihime was really scared right now. She couldn't understand what was going on: Ichigo looked like he was bipolar, the other ones were no better than him, with their weird wonder-like expressions and she just couldn't grasp her mind around a theory that could explain all their strange behavior.

"Well, _you_ died and then came back to life. I think it's enough to make all of them go nuttier than they already were." a male voice said from the hallway.

The occupants of the room turned to see Grimmjow standing against the wall, his arms crossed in front of his chest and a cheeky grin. Nell was right beside him, grinning like a lunatic, and apparently ready to jump into the room if it was not for the entrance being full with shinigamis.

But Orihime couldn't worry less about his presence. His words ringed in her mind, making her remember the fight, her injury, Rukia's face and then her dream-like moments in the world of darkness. She locked eyes with Ichigo and it was enough for her to understand that what the former Espada was saying was the truth. She only saw Ichigo behave like that once, right after her almost drowning, so it would make sense that a somewhat similar happening would trigger a similar reaction. But, if she died, then how were she talking and thinking and feeling? Was she a…

"_Am I ghost?_" she asked, bluntly.

"Thank God no!" Ichigo replied, instantly, but then his face darkened and he turned to Unohana.

"No, she isn't a ghost…" she replied immediately, to the immense relieve of the couple.

"Then how…" Rukia started, without knowing how to voice her doubts. But, nevertheless, Unohana apparently understood and had an answer ready.

"It's quite simple, actually, now that I think of it..." and Unohana pouted, like her own brain failing her in that moment was a personal offence. "Yesterday, when I talked to Orihime-san about my concerns regarding her and her health and when I suggested that she might be pregnant, since I could feel a weird variation in her reiatsu, she told me about how she felt like her reiatsu was being stolen by someone… That made me think and now I have the answer in front of my eyes. The baby is too young to develop reiatsu so, being such a fragile organism I believe he or she was trying to gather as much reiatsu as possible for protection and the only available source was mommy over there, just like a normal child gets nutrition from the mother's own diet. I believe that the baby, feeling the life he or she depends on disappear and his or her own existence in peril released all the reiatsu that was taken from Orihime, as the most basic instinct of survival… Besides, I believe the baby imprisoned Orihime's spirit inside her own body, stopping her from turning into a normal spirit, only acting that way it would be possible for Orihime to return to life…" Unohana explained.

"That's why when a hollow approached I felt like that? It was the baby trying to protect us?" Orihime asked, with her heart beating like a hammer.

Unohana nodded and Orihime sighed, half in relieve, half in worry. It was a relieve that she was okay, but at the same time,_ imagining her baby trying to protect their lives within the womb brought visions of him, bloody and scarred just like his father, in a battle field._

"Sure as hell that's my kid!" Ichigo said, proudly. But his good humor didn't persist for too long.

"You… are pregnant?" Shinji asked and won a sour look from Ichigo.

"You were already here when I came, so why didn't you know that?" Ichigo replied, in a hasty tone.

"Sorry for being too depressed about my first love's death, alright? And by the way, what was that about a pink apron?" Shinji wondered, with a sly grin that made Ichigo blush and made Orihime frown in confusion.

"Oh yeah,_ that_ you heard!" Ichigo replied in a heated tone.

"Don't fight…" Orihime pleaded and Ichigo turned immediately to her, with an apologetically expression. She patted his cheek and asked. "But what about an apron…?"

Ichigo groaned and whispered in her ear, making her giggle and all the others step forward trying to hear.

"But…" Ichigo said in an angry tone, piercing Orihime with his eyes. "You knew about the baby and even with that you went with Rukia?"

She felt herself blush and looking back saw how stupid she was and how something like that affected not only her, but also Ichigo as well.

"I'm sorry… I just didn't want the baby to think I was a coward, seeing people hurt and not helping them… I wanted him to know that his mommy is strong and brave… just like his daddy…" Orihime replied, looking at her intertwined fingers, which were resting in her lap.

Ichigo grabbed her chin and made her look at him. His eyes were no longer angry, holding instead such an amount of warmth that Orihime felt her own eyes sting with unshed tears.

"You are strong and brave and wonderful! I thought we had this conversation years ago, but apparently you forgot! Thinking about your safety isn't a sign of egoism or anything like that! Keeping yourself safe keeps me from going insane! Keeps me from losing my mind! Keeps me from losing my everything!" Ichigo said. In that moment they were no longer in a room full of shinigamis; **_they were alone, in his room, surrounded by his furniture with his books and cd's, seeing the sunlight shine over them._**

**_"Orihime…" he called, seeing her eyelids tremble. She opened her eyes and looked at him, curiously._**

**_"What?" she asked, smiling at his weird expression. He was scowling, which wasn't unusual, but at the same time, he was trying to do something with his lips. After a moment she realized he was trying to show a smile like one of hers: big and toothy. "You don't have to do that…" she said, touching his lips with her fingers. She pushed them to their normal position and Ichigo breathed deeply._**

**_"Why did you…?" he started, but regretted it and stopped himself before he made an idiot out of himself._**

**_"Why did I fall in love with you?" she replied and Ichigo blushed, confirming her suspicions. "I asked myself that countless times, when it looked like you would never realize how I felt… and I still don't have an answer… Say that it was your looks would be too shallow; say that it was your personality would be too minimalist; say that it was your actions would be too obvious; say that it was the scowl would be too unfair… Maybe it's a little of all of it and none of it at all, I don't know, I just know that you are a light that lighten my path when I feel like the world is full of shadows… When I think about you being hurt, my heart stops, I feel like I can't breathe! Keeping yourself safe keeps me from going insane! Keeps me from losing my mind! Keeps me from losing my everything! Do you understand why I fell in love with you? Everyone has their most precious thing, the one they would die to protect, the one they love without knowing why, how or when… You are my most precious thing, my most precious treasure!" Orihime said, with her chest waving like she just ran for miles and her cheeks flushed._**

**_Ichigo looked at her, with his mouth hanging open and before she could do anything more than realize how much she just said, he grabbed her and kissed her, making the both of them role over his bed to the floor. Orihime giggled and Ichigo grumbled when he felt the floor under his back and he thanked they were alone at the house, or he would have some explanations to give to his old man._**

"You remember…" she said and mimicking his gesture, all those years ago, grabbed his face and planted her lips over his.

Only when some of the shinigamis started coughing or giggling or even cat-whistling, they remembered that they were not alone and those displays of affection were too much intimate for praying eyes.

"Oh, and **his** mommy?" Ichigo asked, remembering what Orihime said during her rambling.

She blushed and stuttered. "Well, I was hoping the baby was a boy…"

"Poor kid, if he gets out looking like his father…" Renji said, moving his head like he was imagining the saddest thing in the world. Ichigo roared, but didn't move from his position: arms around Orihime and his legs under her own. But he didn't have to do more than that, because, surprisingly Renji got hit on the head, not by Rukia, but by Sado. When the orange haired man looked to his best friend he could see a shine in his eyes that, during the years, he learned to associate with kittens and little rabbits and it wasn't hard to figure out that Chad's mind was already in a near future, probably imagining his gigantic figure holding his best friends' baby and that image alone, made Ichigo release a chuckle that made all the occupant of the room eye him surprised.

Rangiku got up from her sitting position on the floor, sensing a familiar reiatsu approaching the room and the next second, a white haired boy appeared, running like his life depended on it. He walked cautiously into the room and his eyes almost popped out of his sockets, seeing the ginger woman smiling.

"I felt her reiatsu, but I thought I was insane…" he thought to himself, while the woman waved giddily in his direction. He looked around, finding the face of his vice-captain and she approached him and in a few moments explained the entire situation.

"A baby?" he yelled, looking at Orihime. She smiled at him and he felt his own lips part in a small grin.

"Yes, Captain, it happens when a woman and a man love each other and…" Rangiku started, in a teasing tone.

"I know how that workst!" Toshiro interrupted, with his cheeks pinker than moments ago.

"Oh, Captain, how do you know that? Do you have a secret girlfriend?" Rangiku asked, clapping her hands and jumping in the spot.

Hitsugaya grumbled in frustration and trudged to the hallway, always grumbling under his breath about a new vice-captain, until he disappeared from her eyesight. Rangiku pouted at her Captain's words, but knew he would never get her replaced. He was a man of honor and she was the first one to tell him what he was and what his future could be, saving his grandmother in the process. And besides, she was a pretty awesome vice-captain!

Orihime frowned a little when Rangiku turned around to look at her, but seeing the older woman pout she felt her lips drawing a gentle smile that was mimicked by the rest of the people within the room, no one larger than Ichigo's, the previous owner of the scowl that could scare any kind of criminal, dead or alive.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Now, be happy, our Orihime is back! But the bad guys are still on the run! Will Ichigo be able of defeat them?<strong> _

**A little side note on names, since I made my research to find the most suitable names for Shunsui's mysterious family:**

**AYAKO**  
>From Japanese 彩 (aya) "colour", 綾 (aya) "design" or 絢 (aya) "kimono design" combined with 子 (ko) "child".<p>

**MORIKO**  
>From Japanese 森 (mori) "forest" and 子 (ko) "child"<p>

**And you will learn more about them and what happened to them!**


	15. Chapter 15 Protecting the family

**Chapter 15 – Protecting the family**

**Chapter's Music – The Fantasy and A Modern Myth by 30 Seconds to Mars**

* * *

><p>The moon was shining over her long hair, darkening it to a brownish color. She moved her arm absently and felt cold sheets under her searching fingers. The woman opened her eyes, looking for her husband's form. He was nowhere in sight and she changed to a sitting position, slowly. Her chest still hurt, even if her baby erased all the poison in that hollow's stinger from her body and rejected part of her injuries; it wasn't enough to close the gash totally. Her bandages were keeping her chest from bleeding, while she waited for her reiatsu to be stable again and let her heal it. Unohana tried to heal her, but Orihime refused: it was like a remembrance of how close she was of losing everything and she wanted to feel those lingering pains until she was able of healing herself.<p>

She got up, noticing a strip of light coming from the sliding door that connected with the garden in the back of Rukia and Renji's house. Opening it totally and exiting the room, she saw a dark frame with its back to her, observing the small lake with orange and blue fishes.

"Can't you sleep?" she wondered, massaging his shoulders. He relaxed under her hands and sighed deeply.

"No…" Ichigo whispered, tensing again. "I keep seeing you lying there; _pale, without moving, bloody_…" he cut himself, before his mind could be held hostage under those dark thoughts. Even being sleepless for two nights, observing Orihime sleep countless hours, like she haven't seen a futon in weeks, he couldn't erase those moments from his memory and he doubted he could ever do that. He felt Orihime's arms snake around his torso and her body cuddle against his back and it was the first time he noticed the almost imperceptible bump. Her hands were over his heart and she could feel the beating beneath her fingers. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply into his scent.

"Now I'm the one that has to reassure you of my health, right?" she murmured, against his clothes. He chuckled quietly and the woman smiled; it was always him who had to tranquilize her about his wellbeing. When he would come home from a fight with a hollow or a danger operation as an investigator, she would hover over him until she could see every inch of his body to make sure he wasn't being reckless about any injure he might have. Ichigo would say it was because she wanted to see him naked, but she would always ignore his words. And now, the positions were reverting and Ichigo finally realized how traumatic it must have been for her seeing him lying dead in Hueco Mundo.

"Ichigo…" she called, after some moments of silence.

He turned his head partially and tried to look at her, but the only thing he saw was the top of her head.

"I'm sorry…" she said in a remorsefully tone.

"About what?"

"I broke my promise, I thought you would be mad about that…" Orihime confesseed, finally looking up and connecting her eyes with his.

"Yes, I'm seriously mad!" Ichigo confirmed with a frown, to the next second soften his expression. "I'm mad because you almost took away the most important thing in my life!" and he pointed to her face. "How do you think I would feel if I really lost you? And that's why you have to keep that promise from now on!" he declared.

"I will keep the baby and myself safe, but I can't just stand aside and watch you get hurt and suffer… What kind of human being would that make of me? As long as I keep breathing, and apparently even after that, I will always come back to you, but don't ask me to watch my husband being mauled by hollows!" Orihime pronounced with perseverance.

"Okay, I'm not asking that for the rest of your life, but at least for the next… Wait, how long have you been pregnant?" Ichigo asked, realizing that Orihime never told him that.

"According to Unohana, when she spoke with me in Shunsui-san's house, it must be two or three months, since I'm normally thin she doesn't know how long it could have been and I… really don't remember when was my last… you know…" Orihime said, flushed. Even if she was married to Ichigo for a long time, there were certain things that she could only talk with other girls.

"So, you might have been pregnant for almost three months? Orihime, please, just for once: listen to me and don't do anything reckless, for me and our baby! Now I have two things to protect at all costs, even if the baby is a princess like her mommy or a punk like his father, so don't make my job harder, alright?" Ichigo pleaded, with his big brown eyes caging Orihime under his control. She nodded and sighed, defeated. She knew he was right, but staying at home, while he ran away to fight with hollows would be so damn hard for her!

He nodded, happily, and turned around to look again at the fishes, while the woman buried her nose in his clothes, trying to get intoxicated with his chocolate-like scent.

"Come inside. It's getting cold and I want to snuggle with my mother hen-like husband…" she said, turning him around to look into his eyes. He nodded and let her guide him back into the house.

* * *

><p>Ichigo was awake, watching Orihime sleep when the plan he was forming in his mind for part of the night, finally made him step out of the futon. He rearranged the covers around Orihime and kissed her hair, hoping that she wouldn't be too mad with him when he returned.<p>

The moon was still high in the sky. He didn't know what time was it, but it couldn't be more than three in the morning. Walking down the path that leaded to the exit of Seireitei, Ichigo was thinking about what he had to do. He recalled what the hollow he fought said and now, he knew what he meant with those words. He also knew that the hollow that injured Orihime was targeting her specifically, since he ran away after defeating her and if he knew she was still alive, there was a strong possibility of him coming back and try again. So, for Orihime and their baby's safety, he had to make sure that that monster wouldn't walk through this land any day longer. Just like he said to her earlier, now he had two things he would die to protect. He just hoped it wasn't the case this time…

"Running to kill yourself?" someone asked in scoffing tone.

Ichigo looked around, with a scowl in place, knowing whose voice was that.

"You really like to hide yourself, don't you?" Ichigo replied, in a bored tone, when Grimmjow jumped right in front of him.

The arrancar ignored his reply and instead, observed him with his arms crossed.

"So, I have things to do and I bet you have another person to annoy…" Ichigo said, passing him without giving him a glance. He wished Orihime was there to see how polite he was being, well, the most polite he could be to someone like Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, but then, if she was there he would be probably being scolded for sneaking out without her knowledge.

"That's a pity; she just got back from the death and is going to be a widow in a few hours…" Grimmjow commented, leaning against a tree. Ichigo scowled and crossed his arms.

"I'm not going to die; I'm just going to protect my family once and for all!" Ichigo replied, with a fire in his eyes that complemented the certainty in his voice.

Grimmjow tsked and narrowed his eyes, seeing Ichigo walk away with a new energy in his steps.

"Are you going to follow him?" a female voice asked and Nell jumped from the tree, looking pointedly at Grimmjow.

"No!" he answered, without looking at her. She made a sarcastic sound and punched him in the shoulder.

"Did you forget what Urahara asked us? Did you forget that it was him who interceded with the Commander to let us stay here? As a "_**proof of faith, the opposite you did with us**_"?" Nell said, quoting Urahara's words to Yamamoto. "Or do you want to get back to Hueco Mundo and live with those brainless hollows? For what I remember you didn't enjoy that set very much…" she knew which buttons to push and she was pushing the right ones in that moment.

"Are you going to stay with the others humans?" Grimmjow asked, with such a deep frown that Nell thought he would never be able of even his face again. She nodded and he stepped away from the tree.

"You own me big time! And besides, it will be cool saving that useless' ass and bring him by his ear!" Grimmjow said, with a grin deforming his face, as he imagined the scene with Ichigo's yelps of pain being music to his own ears. _Oh, sweet revenge…_

"Thank you, for sending him…" a masculine voice said, from the shadows, when Nelliel returned to her guarding position. She smiled, seeing the man walk out of the dark and nodded.

"You're welcome, Sado Yasutora, I believe it will do them good, fighting alongside, having to trust each other... " and after some moments of silence, she spoke again. "I know why you are still here and not beside them…" Nell said, eyeing the house in front of her.

"I'm sorry if I'm disdaining your power, but I can't let her here… If something happens again… I couldn't forgive myself if I wasn't there... Ichigo and I made a promise when he told me he would ask her to marry him: if something happened to him, I would protect her no matter what, not because we didn't trust her powers, but because _she needs to be happy_! And with that child on the way, she needs that more than ever…" he replied, putting his hands on his pockets in an awkward way. Normally, he wasn't a person to talk that much, but he had to make the arrancar understand his reasoning, because he couldn't bear anyone thinking that he didn't worry or care about Ichigo, his brother in everything except blood. He made a promise and he would give his life to honor that truce! Because, if a man couldn't keep his honor, what else would he have?

* * *

><p><strong>So, what do you think? Any ideas about the bad guy? Please, review, my friends!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16 Conspiracy Revealed

**Chapter 16 – Conspiracy Revealed**

Chapter's music – Hell's Bells by AC/DC

Attack by 30 Seconds to Mars

* * *

><p>Ichigo was running, following the reiatsu he felt around Orihime's wound. Normally he wasn't really good at sensing it, like Ishida was always remembering him, but this time it was no stupid or simple hollow, it was the monster that almost took his wife away and he would never forget the lingering dark energy, for many years he lived.<p>

The set around him was just a blur of dark colors, while Ichigo flash-stepped through the trees and bushes, without touching anything. When he felt the reiatsu start to increase in intensity he knew that he was getting closer and he hidden his presence, controlling the amount of reiatsu he was letting go.

He was so furious it didn't transpire in his mind that the all ordeal was being too easy. He just wanted to slice and cut the hollow that was stupid enough to cross pass with Orihime, without thinking what might be waiting for him ahead.

When the substitute shinigami stopped, he could discern, through the trees, a large cave, that, apparently, was empty. Knowing better than that he approached the place slowly, waiting for any sign that would show him he was being watched.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo grumbled, feeling someone behind him and putting his stalker against the cave wall, while taking Zangetsu from his back and pointing it to the newcomer. All in the gap of a breathing.

"Take that thing from my throat! And I would suggest you to shut the fuck up if you don't want to get caught!" Grimmjow replied, while Ichigo's fingers gripped the zanpakutou tightly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo asked again, in a lower voice.

"Nell bugged me to come and rescue you!" Grimmjow replied, bored. "And apparently you really needed that, I've been coming after you for half of the journey and you didn't feel me at all…"

"Bastard, you were suppressing your reiatsu!" Ichigo grumbled, shoving him against the stone and releasing his throat.

Grimmjow scoffed and stepped back to look at the cave's entrance. He turned his head to one side and the other, to analyze the environment.

"So, is here… the place where the hollow that killed your woman is hidden?" Grimmjow asked, without looking at Ichigo.

"She is not dead!" Ichigo replied hastily and the former Espada shrugged his shoulders.

"It's just a way of speaking, I really don't get what is so special about her that makes you and Nell and all those shinigamis turn into mush in her hands…" Grimmjow said absently.

"If you did I would be worried…" Ichigo snapped and Grimmjow snickered under his breath.

Ichigo shook his head to get rid of crazy thoughts like Grimmjow caring about someone and started to walk into the cave. The Arrancar's steps could be heard behind his own and he had to stop himself from pushing him back again.

_"That's not what Orihime would want you to do…"_

**_"But she is not here…"_**

_"She would know, she always knows…"_

**_"Damn, you're right… Wait, am I talking alone? Shit, I have to keep my mind in the game… Focus, Ichigo!"_**

The cave was much bigger that the exterior would let on. The ceiling was hidden under layers of shadows and Ichigo couldn't estimate how higher it could go. After some meters, the moonlight couldn't be seen anymore and the man and the arrancar had to orientate themselves through the cold and wet walls.

"Hey, you bastard! You just kicked the back of my foot!" Ichigo complained, to which Grimmjow just snorted quietly.

The orange haired one breathed deeply and would have exploded if a flicker of light in front of him wouldn't have called his attention. He started to walk in a briskly pace, leaving a stunned arrancar behind that could affirm he just pushed the last button of Ichigo's patience until the man started running away from him. He swore under his breath and ran behind him, cursing Nell and the entire Kurosaki clan to the bottom of hell.

When Ichigo finally found the source of the light, he found himself in the middle of a hallway, carved skillfully, with torches illuminating the path. The walls were too smooth to be a natural happening and those torches were definitely brought there by someone human, or at least similar to a human being.

The reiatsu increased exponentially and, in the back of the hallway, a huge being, similar with the one he fought two days ago, with a stinger he eyed with hatred, headed to them.

"I smell blood…" the hollow said and he looked at the newcomers with shining eyes. "Hum… you smell nice, Kurosaki Ichigo and Grimmjow Jeagerjaques…"

"Good, I won't lose time introducing myself…" Grimmjow said, with a cold grimace. He grabbed the handle of Pantera, and was ready to attack when a new voice sounded behind the hollow.

"Good night, old companion… I wasn't expecting you, but since you're here it's polite to say hello…"

Grimmjow's eyes widen and he saw someone he knew walking behind the monster. Ichigo's eyes observed the blonde hair appear behind the shadows and his memory brought to him the name of the being.

"Harribel…" Grimmjow whispered and the woman smiled. He watched her with a sense of confusion clouding his mind. He knew she was alive, but he always thought that she would forever stay in the depths of Hueco Mundo, away from the shinigamis and their fights. She was always the most thoughtful and observant of Aizen's Espadas, the one that would never attack another if she didn't receive orders to do so, and now, here she was, showing herself as the true master mind behind the attacks.

"_She saved you…_" Ichigo hissed, with his blazing eyes on fire.

"I'm sorry, but I needed her flesh, blood and bone, and there wasn't another way of taking it from her, am I correct? But I specifically ordered not to kill her and Scorlio here already learnt his lesson for disobeying my wishes… She was really an unusual woman and…"

"**She is not dead!**" Ichigo acclaimed and Harribel's eyebrows shoot upward.

"_She is not dead?_ According to Scorlio he injured her with his venom and I know how deathly it is…" the Espada replied, with her face contorted in confusion.

_**Oh, yes, she could remember perfectly what happened the first time she saw the hollow using his special weapon. She was watching the experiment about his development, under the watchful eye of a lost follower of Aizen. She played her character well, telling that man she wanted revenge about what they did to Aizen, telling him he was essential in her plan and that they were going to rein together beside Aizen in the future. The man, an active shinigami, that never told where his loyalty true fell, was the perfect pawn to help her walk around Seireitei. He couldn't surpass Kurosaki Ichigo, so she couldn't count with him to get her what she needed, but he was smart and had a strong presence and besides, studied Aizen's research with an obsessive passion. Some years ago, the being she was in that time wouldn't use someone like this, but now, when after months of being alone, in the solitude of the sands and darkness, her psyche lost its last amount of conscience, she found strength enough to lie and make them believe what she was telling them. In those occasions, was she better than Aizen? She lied to her followers, but would never let them get killed or would betray them like he did. So, when Scorlio, in a rampage of fury killed the shinigami, she punished him severely, showing him that comrades in arms protected each other in a battle, not falling under the spell of irrationality.**_

"She is an unusual woman…" Grimmjow confirmed, before Ichigo could lose his last slice of patience.

"Yes, apparently…" she muttered to herself.

"Why? Why the fuck did you try to hurt Orihime?" Ichigo screamed, feeling his feet take control, until two strong arms rounded his chest. He looked around, baffled, seeing Grimmjow behind him.

"Nell will kick my ass if I let anything happen to you!" Grimmjow replied, in a tone that clearly said _It's not for you I'm doing this, jackass…_

"Besides, we need to know what the hell her plan is! Do you want your woman and brat in danger?" he kept growling, wondering if it would be a great problem if he knocked him in the head and blamed the hollow.

"Why? It's quite simple, actually! I'm sick! I'm sick of seeing hollows fight every day in front of me, killing each other's with no rational thoughts, killing my companions with no spare of consideration for them…"

Ichigo could hear her words, even if they looked like they were muffled behind a wall. But even knowing that she was right, nothing could justify her actions. Nothing could justify hurting an innocent person, taking away her life and chance of being happy! But knowing that, it was even harder to stop himself from attacking, so he made the reasonable thing and imagined Orihime's face, when he would see her next time, scowling him for being reckless, but smiling nonetheless for her husband coming back to her. Yes, that was what he had to focus himself on, and not the monster that almost took away his most precious being and_ should die an excruciating death and… Focus, Ichigo, focus!_

"And how are you going to change it?" Grimmjow asked, seeing that Ichigo was too focused in trying to stop himself from cutting the hollow in front of him.

"Aizen had some plans about reproducing the effects of the woman's powers, but, with the invasion of shinigamis he couldn't do anything about it and when he lost the war, it turned impossible for him to fulfill those objectives. But I was always the one listening, when all of you only thought about fights and blood, so I learned about those plans and I waited to see if she was really remarkable as he thought… But, when she cured my wounds I realized it had no importance if she could do what he thought or not, and because of that I left to Hueco Mundo in peace with my Fraccion… But, with the rebellions between the hollows, their constant fights and the ineffectiveness of those shinigamis, my comrades fell with some years between them, and I was left alone, to bear the power of knowledge in the middle of brainless beings…"

"I still don't understand…" Ichigo grumbled, between his gritted teeth. He could see her reasons, but the importance of Orihime in all that confusion still evaded him.

"Aizen was a traitor, not only for shinigamis but for us as well, that fought for him, but even with those actions, the way he acted in Hueco Mundo brought us peace for some time…"

"So, you want to free him?" Grimmjow asked, to which Harribel laughed.

"Of course not…" she said smiling. "I'm going to steal the Hougyoku!"

"_You what?_" Ichigo and Grimmjow said, at the same time. It was impossible; the object was destroyed when Ichigo defeated Aizen! The arrancar must have gone insane, seeing her Fraccion being destroyed probably destroyed the last part of her short sanity! Those were the only reasons Ichigo could see for her unexpected affirmation.

"Why do you think I needed Kurosaki Orihime's powers? I will get her to reject part of this reality, and in that way, create a passage between the present time and a specific day in the past. Like a bridge I can cross…" Harribel said, eyeing a point behind her with some kind of dedication. "Aizen had plans about that and when my last comrade fell I made the decision to gather followers and then, after some years, return to Las Noches and steal his hidden plans…"

Ichigo eyed her with disbelief: believing she could cross time and space to steal the Hougyoku was one thing, but believe that she could make Orihime do those kind of things was plain stupid!

"Imagine stopping Aizen from killing and hurting all those people! Together, we could help those beings finding the light and the reason! You could protect the shinigamis, humans, hollows… all of them from his clutches! Can you say that you never thought about going back and make everything alright? You could help me! I want the Hougyoku to help other hollows! I won't hurt the humans like Aizen thought about! I will live in Hueco Mundo, with my companions surrounding me, in peace!" Harribel's eyes were shining with maddening fervor. And for instances, Ichigo felt himself compelled to nod. If they could went back in time, he could steal the Hougyoku before Aizen changed Shinji and the others into vaizards, he could stop Kisuke, Yoruichi and Tessai from being accused of treason, Orihime would never have been kidnapped, his sisters and friends wouldn't suffer because of Aizen's war and he… he might not be a shinigami, maybe with the old captains there, Rukia would never had to kill Shiba Kaien, maybe she would choose another Squad, maybe she would work under Kisuke's orders and if that could happen, if all the shinigamis' past could be changed that way, maybe Kuchiki Rukia might have not receive the job to look after Karakura Town and he would never had to pass through all those moments of lost and sadness… And then, Orihime's face, crying, seeing her brother trying to kill her, came to his mind… If he wasn't a shinigami, she could be dead; the person that would be taking care of the city could be too late… If he wasn't a shinigami he would never learn about his own strength, how he could surpass his own fear… He would have never met Rukia, Renji, Toshiro, all the shinigamis that, in their own way, taught him so much about the world… Yes, it was so easy to let himself get lost in his own life, but now, it wasn't only his life that mattered... His life and Orihime's were so intricate that changing one would change the other irrevocably… He knew what his answer was. Actually, there was no other way around, he always knew what his answer would be…

"No…" he said, grabbing Harribel and Grimmjow's attention. "I can't let myself be persuaded… The past is too complex and the future is still to be written, and changing the first would change what we built in the present and what we dreamt to the future…"

"Oh, I never thought you had it in you…" Grimmjow said in a sneering tone, cutting the dramatic effect of Ichigo's words. He sneaked a dark glance in his direction, but kept his attention in Harribel's face.

"If you want it that way…" she said and for moments she looked like she was regretting what she was going to do next. "My dear, please, restart your preparations, that our visits so rudely interrupted…"

And from another room, appeared someone that made Ichigo and Grimmjow speechless. She had long auburn hair, brown eyes and pale skin. She moved with soundless steps. She was…

"_Orihime…_"

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><p><strong>When Bleach's manga came out with Harribel's returning I was like: "I can't believe it, now that I have her as my villain she gets back as a victim!", this because, from the begining I had two options for a villain, one of them Harribel, obviously, and the other Ukitake, the last one I don't know why it came to my mind, maybe because of all the story of the Fullbring arc, but I just couldn't see him as a bad guy, he has this purity about him and when his scene with Jushiro talking about his wife and daughter came to my mind (I had that scene in my head since the first chapters) I just decided I couldn't make him the bad one...<strong>

**So, please, read and review!  
><strong>


	17. Chapter 17 Reminescence

**Chapter 17 – Reminiscence**

_Chapter's Music – Reminiscence (Instrumental) and Departures (Piano Solo) from Rurouni Kenshi Soundtrack_

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><p>"Orihime…"<p>

"Hum?" the girl hummed, looking up.

"How long are you going to stay in there, in silence? It doesn't look like you…" Shunsui said, observing the girl, kneeling in front of his table with a steamy cup of tea.

"I'm sorry!" she replied hastily and the man chuckled.

"That was not my idea of your first words, but okay…" he said, with a small smile gracing his lips.

* * *

><p>He was sleeping when Nanao appeared in his room and for moments he thought the girl finally surrendered to his charm, when, instead, she wanted to announce Orihime's visit. For the moon's position, he calculated it could be four in the morning and got up, worried with the late visitor. The woman was already kneeling in his living room, her eyes red and puffy and twisting her kimono between her slender fingers.<p>

Shunsui approached Orihime and released the fabric from within her hands, to grab them between his own.

Behind him, Nanao entered, bringing a steamy cup of tea. Thankfully, it was her night of duty or Orihime would still be outside, looking to the house with a lost expression, without knowing if she should knock on the door.

* * *

><p>"But what for?" he asked, after some moments of silence.<p>

"I'm bothering you… but I really needed to get away from the house and I couldn't find Yasutora-kun and didn't want to wake up Rukia-chan and Renji-kun…"

"And you woke me up instead…" the captain replied, making Orihime stutter.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me. But they are just like Ichigo and I know they haven't sleep for two days straight and Toshiro-kun and Rangiku-chan are on duty tonight and I couldn't find Yasutora-kun's reiatsu, I don't know why he would be hiding it, but I have a feeling he is… and now here I am, being a bother to you, once again…" she rambled, until he put a finger over her lips to make her shut up and Orihime sighed deeply.

Shunsui smiled like he knew something she didn't and without her noticing, looked over the window, seeing a dark shadow sitting in the roof, waiting like a guardian angel. He knew that Sado Yasutora was doing his job of protector, without making Orihime feel bad for having someone always following her steps. He had a feeling the man knew where Ichigo went and probably even saw him go, but didn't do anything to stop him, because he learned like the old captain did, so many years ago, that some fights must be fought, for your own honor and for the love of your cherished ones.

"Where is Ichigo?" he asked, suspecting the truth and saw, with horror, Orihime's eyes shine profoundly. She felt the lump in her throat tighten and had to suppress the tears that were, dangerously, trying to fall from her eyes.

"He went to kill the hollow…" she said in a whispered voice. "I woke up and he wasn't there… I couldn't feel him near me and I searched him through Seireitei, but…" she hiccupped, trying to suppress her sob. "If he gets pierced… he doesn't have someone like I had… it's like that time, I couldn't do anything, I just cried and screamed and now is happening all over again!" she rambled, pressing her hands together.

Shunsui knew what she was trying to say. He knew that Orihime's return to life was a miracle, but it happened because her spirit never really left her body, being imprisoned by her own baby's will. But Ichigo… the man was another matter, he didn't have someone like that to bring him back, if he was killed his spirit would be released like another one and would come to Soul Society, leaving the woman and their child alone in the human world. Yes, they could come to Soul Society, but they were alive, they were humans and even if the shinigamis would love to have them here, they belonged in the world of the living…

The girl shivered and hugged herself, trying to warm up her cold skin. Shunsui looked around the room, until his eyes fell over the pink kimono he had over his shoulders. He grabbed it and with a quick gesture let it fall over Orihime's frame. She looked up, at him, and smiled thankfully.

"Orihime, your husband did what he did to protect you and your child! He knows that, while that hollow is free to roam around, you will never be in peace, always looking over your shoulder, waiting for an attack…" Shunsui asked, quietly. For moments he fought with himself, without knowing if he should say what he wanted, but nevertheless he made up his mind and opened his mouth again. "Do you know why I wear that kimono with me?"

Orihime shook her head. Actually, that question always haunted her, like she had the feeling she should remember something about that, but just couldn't. Ichigo used to say that it probably belonged to one of Shunsui's innumerous mistress, but not knowing why, she always frowned at his words, like they were injuring herself. Apparently, she was going to finally learn the truth behind the kimono.

"It belonged to my daughter Ayako… She was so beautiful, so funny, she always made me smile with her playfulness…" his eyes turned into a dreamy state and Orihime felt her lips turn upward.

* * *

><p>"I met my wife after I left the Academy. She was in the first year and I was already a Captain, alongside Jushiro. I saw her in the opening ceremony of the Academy and when I looked into her brown eyes I felt like I was dreaming, like it couldn't be possible that someone like her could walk among us… Well, I was really dandy in those days, so I tried to send my charms over her…" he said, laughing out loud.<p>

"And she slapped you?" Orihime guessed, like her own lips gained life when those words were spoken, like it wasn't the first time she was hearing this story, which was really weird, since she was sure she never talked with the captain about that.

"Yes!" he answered, laughing even more, his eyes twinkling when he looked at her. "She was a feisty one! That's why I got myself under her spell. Her name was Moriko…" the way he said her name brought a special sound into the word and it was almost like the room got warmer. "She was the strongest in her class and when I would find her in Seireitei I would tease her and make her blush and she always would kick my chins and then ran, with her cheeks a rosy color… After her graduation she entered the Gotei 13, under Jushiro's command and in that year, I almost made my friend go insane. I would always be in his barrack, always following him as an excuse to see her, until he finally asked her if she could talk with me for five minutes, so I would leave him in peace. She got really mad, but nevertheless accepted and spared with me one afternoon. I couldn't be happier after getting beaten by that girl. She made me laugh when she said she thought her captain was stronger than me and helped me get up, walking with her until we reached her house. From that day on, I would leave in front of her door one rose or one sakura flower, until the day she came and asked me if I couldn't get some sunflowers, because they were her favorites… And when Ayako was born, I was made the happiest man alive. She had such beautiful brown eyes, like her mother, that could look into your inner soul… She loved to steal my sweets and blame her mom, even if her mouth was filled with them, and then she would smile a toothy smile that always melted my heart and I would give her my entire stash of candies, until Moriko caught us and punished the both of us…" and then his face darkened and his eyes lost their shine. Orihime felt the room lost his warm and instinctively grabbed his hand. He sighed and squeezed her fingers.

"In Ayako's sixteen birthday, I had to leave Seireitei, because a huge horde of hollows was seen roaming in the east, around District 50… I promised her I would get back before the sunset, her favorite time of the day, just to give my daughter her present…" a lonely tear escaped his tired eyes and Shunsui fell silent for some moments. Over them, the shadow moved awkwardly, like his owner was regretting the decision of coming here. "When I got back, the moon was already high in the sky. We lived in a secluded mansion, near the mountains, because Moriko always loved the forest, she used to joke it was because of her name…" he gave an awkward chuckle, without any trace of humor and kept talking. "The front of the house was destroyed, the porch had huge holes and the wood was spread around, like it was grabbed and sent way with great violence… I walked inside and before I saw them, I already knew… For what I believe, Moriko tried to protect Ayako. My wife was in the hallway over my daughter's body, both of them covered in blood, with their weapons on the floor… Ayako was still alive, barely breathing… She looked at me and I saw her eyes filled with such compassion and love that the only thing I could do was cry and watch as her eyelids closed… and…" Shunsui trembled and Orihime hugged him strongly against her frame. The older man looked like a small kid, caught in a nightmare, trying to run, but always being surpassed by his enemy.

"Did you…killed it?" Orihime asked, shivering.

Shunsui nodded, the words failing him. He grabbed the kimono and felt its softness under his fingers.

"This was my daughter's birthday present and I never got the chance to see her wearing it…" he whispered and Orihime felt her heart clench in sympathy. She knew what it felt to lose the most important person in your world, to feel like the world was taking your will of living, to know that no matter how much you cry and scream the person you love and lost will never come back to you.

* * *

><p><strong>What can I say? I'm such a sucker for this dark pasts... And I really believe that something like this could have happened to Shunsui, I see him as a paralell to Orihime, who had a bad past but is always trying to cheer others up.<strong>

**What do you think?  
><strong>


	18. Chapter 18 Flesh, bone and blood

**Chapter 18- Flesh, bone and blood**

**Chapter's music – Until the end by Breaking Benjamin**

* * *

><p>"It's impossible…" Ichigo's voice resounded in the silent space, insulted, while, right beside him, Grimmjow was observing Harribel with frowning brows.<p>

"It's quite possible!" the woman replied and Ichigo growled. How dare that thing try and deceive him with a fake Orihime! He knew her better than he knew himself. He spent years memorizing her features, touching her, following her, breathing into her scent, mesmerized by her perfection and now, this arrancar thought he was stupid enough to believe his lovely wife would look at him with those eyes, full of hatred? Sure, he said her name, but only as a reflex, because when her eyes fell over him he knew that that being wasn't Orihime, even if it had the same reiatsu, it couldn't be her, _ever!_

"I thought I could plant a little seed of doubt in your mind, but apparently, that is not possible…" Harribel said, and Ichigo thought, for moments, that he saw something like a pleased gleam in her eyes, but in the next second it was gone, what left him wondering if it was there, in the first place.

"How did you do that?" Grimmjow asked, pointing at Orihime's doppelganger.

"Didn't I tell you that I needed her powers? Well, I knew she wouldn't surrender to me willingly, so I used Aizen's old plans to create her doppelganger from her flesh, bone and blood. I could make her body without her, in a faceless form, which took me almost six months, but that would be only a doll if it didn't have the special ingredients, per se. Using some combinations of kiddo that no one longer uses, and that Aizen was really taken to, collecting different samples to make the experiments and see if someone's powers could really be transported into an artificial body without their spirit inside and finally keeping her information inside this body, I was able of creating a new being, one step further in the evolution of strategies…" Harribel assumed, while patting the auburn haired woman in the head, to which Ichigo's stomach revolved in a painful manner.

"You're mental!" Ichigo roared and flew, no longer able of keeping his body from attacking her.

But in a second, Orihime's face appeared in front of Zangetsu and he retreated the weapon, quickly.

"_Damn it!_" he said, jumping behind, when Scorlio decided to join the fight. He knew that that body wasn't Orihime's, he knew that, but attacking even an image of her was something he never thought he had to and that made him lost his concentration for some precious seconds. It remembered him too much of that fateful night, when Orihime and Chad's memories were changed to turn them into his enemies. He fought the image of his mother all those years ago, but in that time he could see her connection with the awful hollow that took her from him, but now, it was different… He only felt her reiatsu and that messed with his mind for some seconds until he got his head on the game.

Grimmjow jumped from behind him and started fighting Scorlio, while leaving Harribel to Ichigo. The woman jumped and disappeared from his view like she could guess his movements and knowing how smart and observant she was, it was probably what was happening.

Grabbing Tiburón with a tight grip and pointing it at the ceiling, a yellow explosion came from the sword, fracturing the cave's roof and creating a path to a more powerful fight between the four opponents.

Flash stepping to the star filled sky, Ichigo followed her path, when Harribel, using Sonido, disappeared to the outside space. Knowing what kind of enemy she was facing, when the substitute shinigami found her, she was already inside her water cocoon, hidden behind the strong cyclone, ready to release her Resurección, and bring the battle to a newer level of strength.

Ichigo concentrated in his reiatsu increase and called his own evolution into Bankai to contra-attack Harribel's. When her blade appeared, behind the water, the shinigami felt the air around him shift and saw his zanpakutou change size. He smiled, watching the arrancar step outside her hurricane-like cocoon, to which she answered with a grimace.

"Here we are again…" she said, before disappearing and reappearing behind Ichigo. He turned around and sent her La Gota against the trees surrounding them, destroying part of the forest in the process.

"You're faster…" she complimented and swung her zanpakutou in Ichigo's direction.

He stopped it with Zangetsu, trading blow after blow, until they jumped apart and observed each other.

"You're also stronger…" she said. "But your mind isn't in the fight, you're worried your comrade won't kill Scorlio, am I correct? And that way, he could go after your woman…" Harribel whispered, knowing that putting the doubt in Ichigo's mind was a step closer to the victory. He was a man of passions, of reckless behavior and in that moment, with his family in danger, he would be the most dangerous being she ever fought.

"That's right, I'm worried… but that bastard won't lose!" Ichigo replied, with security and Harribel narrowed her eyes. The man was worried, but he was able of surpass that feeling and the hatred he felt for Grimmjow in the sake of the battle and in the sake of the person he was trying to protect.

Ichigo roared again and feeling the reiatsu accumulate in his blade, sent a Getsuga Tensho in her direction, to which she called a water and wind barrier that exploded in contact with his attack, knocking Ichigo some centimeters away. In the seconds it took for him to regain control, she looked down, searching for her long haired subordinate, until she found the woman creating a disturbance in the cave's wall.

Grimmjow, being nearer the cave entrance, also noticed the change in the air, and looking down, found the doppelganger forming the passage to the past. He swore under his breath and tried to go to her, until the hollow he was fighting cut his pathway with the help of his clone. During the entire fight, he had to run from that sting and that cut his offense power in almost half, because only a small touch with that thing would be deadly and dying was not on his recent plans. Entering in a rampage of power, Grimmjow started sending blow after blow, and with that, nearing Scorlio with each strike. He already knew his vantage point and was going to take care of that really soon. Cutting the clone with his blade and sending a Cero to Scorlio, he was able of, using Sonido while they were distracted, appear behind Scorlio and cut his stinger with one strike. The hollow roared, and knowing that for some seconds his regeneration power wouldn't act, he had the pathway free to be the most insane warrior anyone ever saw. And he knew how to be insane! Cutting, slashing and crushing, the hollow finally sent his last defense, falling under the veil of darkness, beyond Grimmjow's eyesight.

Harribel felt her fellow warrior find his demise and the second it took her to focus on the fight again, Ichigo was able of bringing her down on her knees, kick her and then flash-step behind her, impaling her with Zangetsu. She felt her blood drip from her wound, but she couldn't accept her end.

"Orihime!" she called and the woman inside the cave looked up. Using her powers, she disappeared from Ichigo's eyesight and reappeared right behind him.

He heard her words, but Harribel grabbed him and before he could escape, a power that looked like his Orihime's, but without Tsubaki's presence sent him flying a few meters. He looked at the gigai, while being thrown and his brain couldn't stop thinking that Orihime's powers were much stronger than that one. If it was his Orihime he would be almost dead with that blow, then why was he still alive? Was it possible that the gigai couldn't recreate the total power of her abilities? Or was it that that regret he was seeing in the doppelganger's eyes was really there and was not part of his imagination? Could some part of Orihime's love for him be integrated in her own powers?

When Ichigo was able of stop his descend, Harribel appeared in front of him, slicing his torso with her Tiburón and the man coughed blood, escaping from decapitation for millimeters. Behind them, the doppelganger was starting her descend, when Grimmjow sent, in her direction, one of his Cero. The woman protected herself with her shield, which the former Espada noticed had no annoying little things attached, and realized that, even stealing the woman's power, Harribel was not able of recreating the source of it, and probably, that was why the shield immediately broke into tiny pieces, making the doppelganger fall to the ground. Orihime's powers were nothing like the shinigami's and that was her greatest mistake.

This time, Harribel didn't waste any time and using Sonido, left Ichigo alone to rescue her subordinate. The substitute shinigami followed her and attacking at the same time as Grimmjow, they pierced the arrancar with the two blades. The blond looked at them, surprised, when the blood fell from, not only her wounds, but her mouth as well.

"I thought you would kill each other… apparently I'm not always right…" she murmured, red bubbles appearing with each word.

Ichigo and Grimmjow looked around, searching for the other woman, and found her on the cave's floor, next to the disturbance on the wall, still fighting to keep herself alive and respect her master's orders.

The two men looked mesmerized to the wall, while different times and thousands of people appeared, walking, dancing, dying, sleeping, always doing those actions in a rewind order. Ichigo, specially, looked fascinated when a man with black hair and woman with golden hair appeared kissing, to the next second break apart and act like the woman was running backwards.

"So it was mom who gave the first step…" Ichigo thought. "And that old man always saying he was the one to swap her in his arms… old liar!" he thought, with a nostalgic smile.

And when his parents disappeared behind the thousands faces of many others he didn't know, he was brought back to the present and remembered his mission in that place. He looked at Grimmjow, who looked back and nodding, the both of them approached the dying girl. Her head was bleeding profusely, her legs were broken and her chest was moving almost imperceptibly.

Ichigo kneeled next to her and grabbed one of her hands.

"I know some part of her being, not only her powers, are in there, so please, listen to me: you can stop now, there's nothing you can do from now on. Your master is dead, your companion is dead, you don't have to suffer more, just close your eyes and let the sleep come…" he whispered, lulling the girl to close her eyes and let her head fall over her shoulder. Ichigo felt his stomach lurch with that vision hitting too close to home. It was like seeing his wife dead all over again: her hair dirtied with blood, her clothes ragged and red and her eyes firmly closed. The lump on his throat thickened and he stood up and stepped back quickly, turning his back to the body. Grimmjow looked at him, surprised for seeing the man act like that to someone that was only alive because his wife almost died. Shaking his head with disbelief for the man's action, he took the body over his arms and said to the retreating man: "I'm going to bury her…" to which Ichigo only nodded. Yes, she shouldn't be left here. Even if she wasn't Orihime, part of the woman he idolizes was inside that artificial body and he would respect that part until the end.

When the disturbance on the wall disappeared, he followed Grimmjow's path and found him, sitting on the cave's entrance, crushing some rock under his fingers. Ichigo sighed deeply and extending his hand put it in front of the other's face. The arrancar looked to Ichigo's hand like he was expecting it to punch him and when none of it happened he looked up and found gratitude in the man's eyes. For some seconds, he thought of not accepting that, but sighing as well, grabbed the man's hand and used it to stand up.

"_No one is going to know about that…_" they said, at the same time, and frowning, turned their backs on each other and took their path, back to Seireitei.

* * *

><p><strong>Orihime was really right about those two stubborns...<strong>

**So, what do you think? Did you liked it?  
><strong>

**Oh, and I have some news! I'm planning a sequel to this story, so stay tuned for that!  
><strong>


	19. Chapter 19 For our family

**Chapter 19 – "For our family"**

Chapter's music - 4th Avenue Cafe by L'arc~en~ciel

* * *

><p>"I wonder why Harribel didn't know Orihime's powers weren't in its full potential…" Ichigo wondered, without noticing he had said it out loud, until Grimmjow answered from some distance, ahead of him.<p>

"Probably because your brat messed up your woman's reiatsu. I bet, in that moment, when the hollow stole it, only half of it truly belonged to your woman. The other part was probably being kept to protect your kid, like the instinct of a hollow to protect itself at all costs!" Grimmjow grumbled, and Ichigo's fist punched in the back of his head.

"Don't compare my kid with a hollow!" he roared, when Grimmjow punched him back.

"You little…" Grimmjow muttered, while grabbing Ichigo's hair and pulling it.

Ichigo grabbed his mask and tried to yank it from his face, while kicking the other chins. Grimmjow answered with a blow to his stomach, and that would keep going, if someone's voice didn't interrupted them.

"Why are you playing in the middle of the road? Isn't that dangerous for small kids like you two?"

"Shut up!" they said at the same time, piercing the newcomer with their eyes.

"Oh, so sweet, you're talking at the same time now…" Nell mocked, while closing the distance between them. And then, she grabbed both of their ears and yanked it. "Are you two stupid? You just worked together and now you're acting like two children! Get a grip on yourself!" and eyeing Grimmjow said "You, shut up now! We need to have a serious talk!" and turning to Ichigo ordered "You, go get your wife! Spoil her and let her beat the crap out of you if she wants, got it?"

Both of them nodded, like they were students being reprimanded by their teacher and Ichigo returned to his previous path, leaving Grimmjow and Nell yelling with each other, and in that moment he didn't know each one he should be feeling sorry for.

* * *

><p>The sun was appearing behind the horizon, when he walked inside Rukia and Renji's house. He tried to feel her reiatsu, but she was nowhere to be found. His heart started beating like a hammer and he started searching through the house, yelling her name.<p>

"What…?" Rukia asked, opening her bedroom door and peeking through the small crack.

"Did you see Orihime?" Ichigo asked, pushing the door open. Rukia stammered and had to grab the door to keep herself from falling.

"What are you talking about? Are you stupid? You don't know where is she? Where were you to don't know that? If something happens to her!" Rukia yelled, punching Ichigo with each sentence. At the back of the room, Renji yawned, and looked surprised to the rampage that was happening at his bedroom door.

"What the hell is going on? Can't you let that to the evening?" he grumbled, in a sleepy voice.

"Orihime is missing!" Rukia snapped and Renji jumped from their futon.

"What? Are you stupid, Ichigo? How did you let something like this happen?" Renji yelled and joined Rukia, in the shouting match.

"Well, you were there! Why didn't you felt her leaving? It was your job to…" Ichigo said, but stopped himself, remembering an old memory. "Where is Chad?" he asked and the couple answered him with blank expressions. "If he isn't here, he is with her!" he said, with certainty. And started running, headed to the front door. When he passed it, he noticed something that he hasn't noticed when entering the house.

**_"My dear Ichigo,_**

**_Orihime-chan is sleeping. Sado-kun is sitting on my rooftop patting some birds. As soon as you get back, come here. And don't start yelling through the house, like I know you will._**

**_Shunsui"_**

Ichigo ripped the note from the door, berating himself and dashed to the captain's house, with his heart lighter than mere moments ago.

* * *

><p>When he got there, the man was engaged in a loud conversation with Chad, in his front porch, laughing out loud to something the human just said.<p>

"Ah, Ichigo!" he yelled, waving his hand in the air. Ichigo rolled his eyes at the welcoming, but kept his pace nonetheless. When he was only two steps away from the sitting position of Shunsui, Chad got up and without saying anything grabbed him in a strong grip and hugged him against his chest. Ichigo felt his lungs almost explode, while patting the giant's back in a condescending manner. And when Chad finally released him he had only two seconds to regain his breath before being knocked in the head by a strong punch.

"What the hell, Chad!" Ichigo yelled, eyeing his friend with disbelieving eyes. The man, whose dark hair normally hided his eyes, was looking at him with a mix of relieve and fury that made Ichigo step back.

"That was for hurting Orihime or don't you remember what you said to me, when we made the truce?" Chad replied, and Ichigo understood that the fury he was watching was only half directed at him; the other half fell over Chad's own shoulders, for having to keep his promise instead of helping his friend in a potential death threat.

Ichigo remembered it too well. For how many years that passed, that day was branded in the debts of his mind. It was the day his life changed with a simple word.

* * *

><p><em>The sun was almost hidden behind the mountains and the orange glow was coloring the river, shining in his course.<em>

_Two men walked side by side. One, a big amount of muscles and dark hair, with soundless steps that really didn't belonged to such a huge frame. The other a tall and thin man, with hair the color of the setting sun, that was kicking every stone in his path._

_The sun was quickly disappearing, leaving the world under the shadows' domain. The orange haired man now with his hair looking like a brownish color, bitten his lip, squirmed with his left hand inside his pocket and finally opened his mouth._

_"Chad…" Ichigo started, grabbing his companion attention. The gigantic man knew his best friend was nervous, but thought it was only because of Orihime's surprise birthday party being organized by the triple threat of Rangiku, Rukia and Tatsuki. The woman was expected in her apartment in an hour, after her classes ended, and until then, Sado knew that Ichigo would be grumbling against whatever the women made to surprise the gentle healer. He just hoped it wouldn't involve anything too embarrassing like Rangiku's first plan of having half naked shinigamis dancing to her, to which Ichigo's veins almost exploded at the time._

_Sado looked up from the ground and watched Ichigo stop and fidget with his pockets. Now he was curious; his friends' nervous restlessness couldn't be only because of the party, they haven't seen what they did yet._

_The moon was already shining over them, so he could see Ichigo taking a small blue velvet box from his pocket and opening it. Inside was a beautiful silver ring with gemstones in a form of a six petal flower that shined under the moonlight. Chad looked at it with his mouth wide open and wondered for how long Ichigo searched for that ring._

_"I'm going to ask her tonight!" he said, in a strained voice, with his body rigid like an iron bar. The Mexican saw how his friend was nearing a nervous collapse and put a hand over his shoulder._

_"Do you love her?" he asked and Ichigo looked at him like he was insane._

_"Of course! How can I not love her? **She is so perfect, so strong minded, so selfless, so courageous, so protective, so naïve, so beautiful, so so so…** Every time I see her it's like** I can't stop fucking smiling**, which can be really irritating! It's like my heart is going to burst, you know?" while he talked, Ichigo's voice became more loud and vivacious and he started waving his hands trying to show how his feelings for her couldn't be kept inside his body. Sado watched his show, in an impassive stance, with his hands inside his pockets. Ichigo trailed in front of him, telling of episodes with Orihime when she would show him just how amazing she was and how a lucky bastard he was for gaining her love. When the orange haired man finally regained his senses and remembered he was in the middle of a road, yelling about his private feelings to anyone who could hear him, he blushed to the root of his hair and scowled._

_Sado Yasutora was no longer with a blank expression. He was smiling and with a deep voice, that resonated through Ichigo's mind, he said:_

_"Then, after all you said, why are you so afraid she will say no?"_

_"I'm not afraid…" Ichigo said immediately. "**That much…**" he added after an awkward second of silence._

_Sado snorted with suppressed laugh and Ichigo scowled at his reaction._

_"She will say yes, **she will yell the yes**, for God's sake! So please, promise me you two will be happy together, you won't act like a reckless idiot and worry her nonetheless, you will protect each other until your last breath and you will give me small nephews and nieces that I can spoil with teddy bears and toys!" Chad said, and when he closed his mouth Ichigo blushed once more. His friend was not very talkative but when he was, he could always bring a ray of hope into his heart._

_"If I act like a reckless idiot you can punch me all you want! If something happens to me you will be the one to protect her and make sure she is happy even if I'm not with her, do you get it? I trust her powers and I know she can protects herself, but I also know that if something happened to her I would be a stupid and brainless idiot that would try a suicide mission just to be with her again and I don't want that girl to even try that, are we clear? Promise me, Sado Yasutora, my friend Chad, that you will be beside her when she needs it… when we both need it!" Ichigo requested, with his eyes shining with a fierce force. Chad smiled at the correct use for the first time of his name and grabbing the hand Ichigo extended, squeezed those fingers that saved him, so many times, with his protective blade._

_"I promise, Ichigo! I will protect you and Orihime until my last breath!" he said in reverent tone._

_"And I will protect you and Orihime until my last breath! For my family… for our family!" Ichigo replied and Sado felt his lungs burst with proud. He was part of that family the substitute shinigami was forming, starting this night. He, who always lived by himself, who always walked alone between his pears, had a family! A dysfunctional, crazy and totally freakish family, but a family nonetheless! And he would surely protect them until his last breath got released from his lips!_

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>Ichigo!<strong>_" a female voice called, taking the two men from their reverie.

He looked beside Chad and Shunsui and saw her, wearing the latter pink kimono and running to him, with her arms extended. He closed the distance and took her body hostage under his own arms, breathing into her scent, feeling her reiatsu evolve him like a warm and soft blanket.

"I'm home, Orihime, I'm home!" Ichigo whispered and his wife snuggled closer to his chest, with a smile.

"_I know, welcome back…_"

* * *

><p><strong>No, it's not the ending. We still have two more chapters to go...<strong>


	20. Chapter 20 Isshin, the gramps

**Chapter 20 - Isshin, the gramps**

**Chapter's music- Feels like home by Chantal Kreviazuk**

* * *

><p>The couple was sleeping soundly after some days of tension, where emotion ran wild and where they thought they would lose the most important thing to each other.<p>

But that peace wouldn't continue for much longer, since the man's phone started ringing, making the two occupants of the bedroom stir in their sleep. The man's arm appeared from under the covers and searching blindly, but frenetically, finally grabbed the damned device and turned it off. The woman sighed and opened her eyes when her own phone started ringing. "_Someone is desperate to talk with us!_" she thought, while watching the screen with clouded eyes. It took her mind some seconds to realize she should answer it and clicking the green button, brought the object to her ear. Behind her, her husband grumbled against her choice and hided his head under his pillow.

"Hi Tatsuki-chan!" the woman greeted, while yawning.

"_Hi? **Hi?** _Why didn't you tell me you were back? Yasutora just passed here and told us! And what the hell is the thing you have to tell us? He just said that with a weird smile on his face, like he is imagining his kitties!" Tatsuki's yelling voice right next to Orihime's ear was starting to make her dizzy and she had to breathe deeply for some seconds before she was able of answering. She didn't want to tell her best friend through the phone that she was going to be an aunt, so the woman just scheduled a dinner that same night, hoping that Tatsuki would let her sleep some more hours until calling again to ask her if she was okay.

"Tatsuki is such a pain in the ass!" Ichigo groused against the pillow when he felt Orihime settling down once again. She didn't say anything and he frowned. It was not like her to be like that, she would always defend her best friend/ sister against his complaining words. Turning over his abdomen, Ichigo looked to his right and saw his wife sound asleep. He smiled and put the covers over her shoulders, touching softly the hair that was falling over her face. When his eyes roamed over her body, they were immediately pulled to where her belly would be, hidden under the covers, and his hand roamed over it, until he finally set it down, feeling, or more imagining when it would be round and big, almost popping out, with his kid kicking softly inside it. And with that image in his mind he let his head fell back against Orihime's shoulder, without taking his hand from its resting position.

* * *

><p>Telling that Orihime and Ichigo got up early to arrange the dinner for Tatsuki and Uryuu would be the polite thing to say, but would be totally untrue. The truth was that until the doorbell rang, they were under the covers, snoring loudly in Ichigo's case and dreaming of hot chocolate in Orihime's side. So, when Ichigo appeared in only his pajamas pants, with his hair wild and his eyes clouded with sleep in front of Tatsuki and Uryuu, it wouldn't be a surprise that they were utterly shocked: the man was always ready when it was to act and would never show himself in such an fragile image, but here he was, rubbing his eyes like a small child.<p>

"_What?_" he roared, when the couple eyed him with open mouths.

"Nice hair!" Tatsuki commented sarcastically, entering without being invited. Uryuu followed her, watching Ichigo with creases in his forehead. The shinigami grumbled against intrusions and kicked the door closed.

"Ichigo, why are you up? I'm still tired…" he heard Orihime say from their bedroom.

"She is still _in_ bed? I called her this morning…" Tatsuki said, changing her direction to the couple's bedroom.

"Hey! You're invading private property!" Ichigo yelled, running behind her and trying to stop her from bothering Orihime.

"Tsk, like I never saw her in her nightgown…" Tatsuki scoffed and opened the door, prying her head inside.

"OH!" Orihime exclaimed, seeing Tatsuki's grinning face. She slapped her forehead and jumped from the bed. When her body finished the action she felt like her head didn't want to change positions in such a hurry way and if it wasn't for Ichigo's race and strong arms she would have made a spectacle of herself on the floor.

"Are you okay? Are you dizzy? How much fingers do you see? Are you going to throw up? Do you have a fever?" Ichigo's questions just got her more confused, so she just closed her eyes and let her head fell against his chest.

"What is going on? Why is Ichigo acting like a mother hen? Are you sick?" Tatsuki's questions weren't helping her either and her pale face told them she should lie down for a while.

When Ichigo closed the door, after helping Orihime settling down, Tatsuki and Ishida fell over him, bombarding the poor man with questions.

"What the hell is wrong with her? Is she sick? Did you go with her to the hospital?" Tatsuki asked, while, next to her, Uryuu watched Ichigo's calm expression with an understanding look.

"How long is she?" Ishida asked, when his wife got tired of asking questions. The woman looked at him with surprised eyes and frowned when Ichigo laughed.

"So, you figured it out? It's quite obvious, isn't it?" Ichigo replied, teasing Tatsuki with his cryptic words. And with her frowning face in clear display, he was getting what he wanted. "Probably three… at least that's what Unohana thought."

"Honey, I think you're going to have a new student in six months…" Uryuu said, squeezing his wife's hand. The woman looked at Uryuu and then her eyes shifted to Ichigo, narrowing to a dangerous level.

"Are you saying that you… KNOCKED UP MY BEST FRIEND!" Tatsuki yelled and Ichigo put his hand in front of her mouth to keep her quiet. For some moments they waited to see if Orihime would appear, but feeling her reiatsu keeping its calm and sleepy demeanor, they breathed in relieve.

"Answering your _oh so delicate question_, yes, Orihime is pregnant." Ichigo said, without being able of keeping that damn smile out of his face. That alone made Tatsuki's breathing calm down and her lips turned a little upward.

"But how did you find out? Or Orihime-san waited to tell you until you came back from Soul Society?" Uryuu asked and saw, with surprised eyes Ichigo's face turn ash pale and his eyes widen in something that looked like fear. Something happened during that trip, something that made the couple find out they were going to be parents, something apparently life threatening…

Ichigo breathed deeply, crossing his fingers and resting his face over his hands. Without looking at Tatsuki or Ishida he started telling them what happened during their time in Soul Society in an empty and detached voice.

"So, you were right Tatsuki…" Ichigo said, concluding his narration.

"How so?" she replied, in a fragile voice, not at all like her own.

"I'm a bad husband to her… I couldn't protect her… And if it wasn't for the baby…" it was the first time Ichigo talked about his fears. The next days after he came back from defeating Harribel he spent them entirely with Orihime, walking with her under the cherry trees, feeding her with the things her wild imagination would come up with, trying to forget what almost happened, what almost took his wife and child away from him. He didn't want to show his tears in front of Ishida of all people and Tatsuki saw him cry too much in the past, but he just couldn't stop them when they started to fell freely through his face.

"You are sure a stupid man, that's no doubt, but there was nothing you could have done to protect her…" Ishida said in a peremptory tone. "For what you told us, Harribel must have you being followed by someone the entire time, telling her the perfect time to act, and if I were you, I would expect a message from Soul Society in the next days, telling you that they caught someone trying to ran from Seireitei with some of Harribel's plans. So, that would be impossible for you to be always with her, and who knows if you were with her, it could be you who got pierced by that stinger, and that way, you would have no baby to keep you from dying…"

Ichigo looked at the Quincy with surprised eyes.

"If I didn't know I would say you would miss me if I died…" Ichigo replied, with the corners of his lips trembling.

"Don't say stupid things, I'm just worried about Orihime-san!" the Quincy answered quickly, with his face a little pinker. Then, looking at his wife, that strangely was still silent, he was surprised seeing her fists trembling and for moments he thought she would punch Ichigo.

"You're really stupid…" she started, in a trembling voice and Ichigo looked at her, surprised. "But how do you think Orihime would react if you died, trying to protect her? Do you think she would be happy? Do you think she would be able of getting on with her life? No, of course not, just like you, when you thought she was dead! So, stop with that self-depreciative nonsense, get your ass in full gear and go buy us dinner, before I faint with hunger!" and piercing him with her eyes, Ichigo quickly got up and walking silently to his room got some clothes and prepared to take a quick bath before going out.

"Are you okay?" Uryuu asked, when they hear the clicking of the bathroom door's locket.

Tatsuki didn't say anything and sending her arms against his neck, buried her face in his chest and started sobbing violently. The man sighed against her hair and kissed her temples, while she fisted his shirt in her hands.

"I almost lost her… I almost lost my sister…" she said, when her sobbing decreased and her chest normalize its movements.

"Tatsuki, I know how you feel, but she is here, she is okay, she is happy and she is going to give us an incredible niece or nephew that we will spoil and keep from being like that stupid father…" he said, trying to cheer her up and hearing her small giggle made his heart squeeze in a warm way.

When Ichigo returned, with his hair dripping and using jeans and a t-shirt, Tatsuki was roaming around their kitchen, getting the table ready on the dining room.

"Well, I'm going to buy some food. Please take care of Orihime while I'm gone…" he said, grabbing his keys and jacket. The couple nodded and Ichigo turned around and left the house.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure we should be doing this? We can tell him when the baby turns eighteen, or when he or she gets the first job…" Ichigo suggested, while Orihime frowned at him. The man was squirming, while watching his wife's hand move towards the doorbell. It wouldn't be strange if, in his mind, music of a horror movie was playing in full potency.<p>

"He is your father! He has the right to know!" she replied, when her finger touched the button and a rigging sound echoed through the house.

For some moments he thought no one would answer, but when the click of the locket sounded he scolded himself for his own naivety.

"My dear Orihime-chan!" a male's voice could be heard, even before the door was totally open and from nowhere two arms grabbed Orihime and squeezed her against a body.

"Be careful!" Ichigo screamed, saving the woman from his father's antics.

"Oh, you are here too?" Isshin scoffed and Ichigo scowled.

"Like you couldn't feel my reiatsu…" he grumbled, under his breath, when the older man let them enter the house.

"The twins are upstairs, studying for their upcoming exams…" Isshin explained, when Orihime looked up feeling Karin's reiatsu.

"I bet Yuzu-chan is a bit nervous about that History of Gastronomy exam, she told me her teacher wasn't really nice…" Orihime said, biting her lower lip.

"Nah… Karin is worst… She says she is going to be a physical education professor and not some sociology insane… so as you can see the tension in the house is rising to dangerous levels…" Isshin said, with a nervous laugh. Ichigo could see a very recent black eye forming and he bet Karin just exploded with their old man.

"So, maybe we should come back another time…" Ichigo replied, pushing Orihime to the front door. But she was having none of that. She planted herself in a rigid position and stopped any movements from her place. Isshin looked at them with widen eyes and felt the change in Orihime's reiatsu to a challenging one. Upstairs, Karin apparently felt it too, because he could hear the twins coming down from their bedroom.

"We have something to tell you!" Orihime announced, happily and Ichigo slapped his forehead. **_Now was too late to run!_**

"What trouble did he get himself into this time?" Karin asked, while Yuzu passed her and engulfed Orihime in a hug. Ichigo's frantic hands ripped the two women apart, which left Yuzu hurt and confused by her brother's action.

"Can't I hug her now?" Yuzu asked, with her hands in her hips and Ichigo gulped.

"You were hugging her too tightly!" Ichigo complained and Orihime sighed, _it was going to be a long six months_…

"I'm pregnant!" Orihime announced, deciding to finally say it before anything more happened and without caring that behind her Karin was scolding Ichigo for treating Yuzu that way. The bickering stopped immediately, followed by two gasps and then an awkward silence.

Karin and Yuzu were looking at their brother with gaping faces: Karin's was a bit too shocked for Ichigo's taste and he made no attempt to hide his glare. But, when he didn't hear anything from his father he looked around and saw the man was no longer in the room.

Orihime was looking, surprised, to the back door, meaning it must have been his father's route.

"Stay here, alright?" Ichigo asked, kissing her hair quickly and heading to the kitchen. Behind him, his sisters were coming back to their senses and were praising Orihime and asking if they could touch her belly.

* * *

><p>"Dad?" Ichigo asked, observing his father's back. Apparently, he was finding one of the bushes extremely interesting.<p>

"Hey, son, congratulations!" he said, without turning around. His voice was thick and Ichigo's eyes darkened.

"Congratulations? Is that the only thing you're going to say? No embarrassing warnings or innuendos about my personal life? No goofy faces or tight embraces?" the orange haired man replied, screwing his brow. That was not like his father at all…

"I'm happy for you and Orihime-chan…" he said, finally turning around. Seeing his father's face, Ichigo stepped back, knocking down one vase that crashed in the ground, spilling dirt all around. Isshin's eyes were shining like stars, with tears running through his face, in a not comical way. It was like the man Ichigo remembered from many years ago, in his wife's funeral, with three small children to take care of, without anyone to help.

"Dad!" Ichigo called, closing the distance between him and the older man. Isshin encircled his son's frame with his arms and whispered in his ear, in a breathless voice.

"Promise me you will protect her! Promise me you won't let your kid grow up without a mother!"

Ichigo stepped back, to look into his father's eyes.

"Of course! I will give my life to protect her and our baby! I won't let them be taken away from me ever again!" Ichigo said with such resolution, that Isshin thought to himself if something happened while they were away. But, since his son didn't say anymore, the older man decided to keep it only in his mind.

"I'm sorry if I'm not such an example as a father… When she was taken away from us, I didn't know what to do… I was left with you and your sisters and I was so afraid you would hate me for my ineptitude as a father that I ended being even worse than what I was trying to avoid…" Isshin confessed, kicking some rocks that were laying down, innocently, on the grass.

"Yes, sometimes I asked myself if you read how to be a father in a cereal box…" Ichigo replied, nodding with his head.

"You little brat!" Isshin yelled and ran after Ichigo that, caught by surprise, didn't had time to escape and was pinned on the ground under his father. The man was messing with his already wild hair, with a malicious grin, but Ichigo could see, in the back of his eyes a warm emotion, so, feeling really generous, he left his father have his fun torturing his son.

"When your son gets older, I have to teach him how to take care of you!" Isshin said, when Ichigo, tired of that childish play, knocked him down and got up.

"How do you know it's a boy?" Ichigo asked, dusting off his jeans.

"My son, it's something that comes naturally for me, like the good looks and the great intellect… I know these things… You would never understand how…" Isshin said, with his chest puffed out. Ichigo scoffed and rolled his eyes at his father's behavior.

* * *

><p>"Is dad okay?" Yuzu asked, peeping over Orihime's shoulder, who was observing the interaction between the Kurosaki men, through the window.<p>

"He is now…" Orihime answered, smiling, while the two men headed back to the house.

When they entered, Orihime was watching Isshin expectantly. The man looked ashamed and a little guilty, when their eyes locked.

"I'm sorry for my rude behavior, my dear Orihime-chan!" Isshin said, smiling sweetly to the woman. She answered with a smile of her own and the man approached her.

"Can I…?" he asked, pointing to her belly and she nodded.

Yuzu and Karin were watching from the shadows, and even the latter had a sweet smile gracing her lips.

"What are they going to name you?" Isshin asked, to the belly, like it could answer him.

"Hanako if it's a girl and Katsuo, if it is a boy…" Orihime said and Isshin looked at her with a shine in his eyes.

"Of course it's a boy, mark my words! I'm never mistaken in these matters! When Misaki was pregnant I was the one saying she would bear a punk and then two wonderful princesses!" Isshin said, grinning, and after some seconds of awkward silence, filled with the sound of Ichigo's gritting teeth, he kept talking. "And that is a good name too! A strong name! Katsuo, victorious child! Kurosaki Katsuo!" Isshin said, trying different tones to know it would sound. "_Katsuo, come to gramps! Katsuo, rip your fathers' ties! Katsuo, wake up your father at three am!"_

"Hey! We get it, alright? Can't you stop from trying to turn my kid into a devilish being, while he is still the womb?" Ichigo asked. "He is going to be an angel, like his mother, alright?"

"With a name like that I would watch my back; the kid will have at least an advantage against a strawberry!" Karin teased from the stairs and Ichigo scowled.

Orihime put her hand over his shoulder and when he looked at her, she was smiling.

"Don't worry. I bet he will love and respect you like no one else!" she said and Ichigo felt a smile grace his lips. He kissed her hand and locked his eyes with hers. In the depths of them he could see his future, like in a video. He could see himself smiling right beside her, with their baby in their arms. He could see himself built snowmen with him, while Orihime would bring them hot chocolates and sit beside them, admiring their artwork. Yes, he would make sure to turn those visions into reality. He would make sure that this wonderful and brilliant woman would always be by his side, cheering him, supporting him and loving him, like no one else could. And Ichigo finally realized what the expression "the happiest man on Earth" really meant, because, in that moment, prisoner of those brown orbs he couldn't think of any one's happiness that could surpass his own. In that moment he was truly in bliss and he would fight until his last breath to protect those precious moments, those precious eyes, those precious hearts that were beating in consonance with his own.

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><p><strong>So, we still have the epilogue to go and then it's a wrap, but don't worry, the sequel is definitelly happening and I'm already writing some stuffs...<strong>

**And those kids' names, they really have a deep meaning, like you can see:**

**KATSUO - **From Japanese 勝 (katsu) "victory" and 雄 (o) "hero, manly". Victorious child

**HANAKO** - From Japanese 花 (hana) "flower" and 子 (ko) "child".


	21. Chapter 21 Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

_Chapter's Music - Somewhere only we know by Keane**  
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><p>June 17th<p>

It was the day of a death.

It was the day of a birth.

The boy was like a carbon copy of his father with his age, at least that was what his grandfather said, because the man refused to show his wife his photos as a kid.

But, even being his son's birthday he couldn't stop his annual ritual. He had to go and see her.

He crunched in front of the tombstone and, putting some flowers over it, he closed his eyes and remembered when he was still a child with a mother.

He knew his father and sisters would be disappointed that he would come without them, but he wasn't alone.

Walking quietly through the path, a woman and the boy who was a copy of his father, approached, hand in hand. The child looked around curiously; it was his first time at that place.

The man looked up and seeing his wife and son, smiled.

"Well, mom, I hope you're okay wherever you are. I know I am. I have everything I asked and more... well, except you, but... I understand that you can't come back. But don't worry, someday, I will find you and I will tell you everything about our family. You will be really exasperated with dad's antics but you loved him like that, right? So it won't come as a big surprise..." he closed his mouth and sighed. He closed his eyes again, until a small and warm hand grabbed his calloused one.

"Well, until that day, mom…" the man said, touching the stone lightly and turning to face the woman and the child.

"Daddy, is grandma in there?" the child asked, while pulling his hand and pointing to the ground. His mother's eyes almost popped out of his sockets, but the boy couldn't care less.

"No. This is just a place where I feel I can talk to her. She is in Soul Society, like other spirits…" Ichigo explained, grabbing his son under the boy's armpits and putting him against his chest.

"Oh, so she is aunt Rukia and uncle Renji and aunt Rangiku and uncle Shiro and uncle Grimm and aunt Nell's friend?" the boy's eyes, so much like his mother's, held Ichigo prisoner with his rational thoughts. Well, almost rational, the respect and admiration the boy held for the blue haired arrancar still baffled the father, even if his wife swore she saw Grimmjow smile once at their son.

"Unfortunately no, but Soul Society is a huge place. They just didn't meet yet..."

Orihime kept her pace a little quicker, so her boys could have their own moment, but she was close enough to hear everything they said.

"Bigger than uncle Uryuu's hospital?" the boy asked, trying to understand how big was that place. He only visited part of Seireitei, so the real dimensions of Soul Society were a mystery to him.

"Yes, way bigger…" the dad answered feeling a vein throb in his head seeing his son awed expression for something being bigger that Ishida's hospital. Orihime giggled at her husband's expression.

"Don't worry daddy, someday they will find her and then she can come and visit us and grandpa won't need that poster..." his son's intelligence was always surprising him; the kid was so damn smart!

"Yes, Katsuo, someday I will see her again!" Ichigo said, with such certainty that made Orihime stop and look at him.

"I just hope she likes me." she said, intertwining her fingers with his.

"What is there not to like?" Ichigo asked, feeling the smooth skin under his fingers. He squeezed her hand and felt his breath being taken away by her hypnotizing eyes.

"Yeah, mommy is the greatest ever!" Katsuo said, pumping his little fist in the air in such a perfect imitation of his mother that the couple could do nothing more than laugh.

And was laughing that sixty years later a woman with golden hair approached a man with orange hair and said, for the first time since he was nine "Welcome home, my son".

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><p><strong>I want to thank you all, who enjoyed this ride with me, especially those who your time to review and give me suggestions about the story. It has been a wonderful ride, but like all the great ones it has to end and this is the end of Knowing the Past, Writing the Future. But don't worry, probably at the end of the month I will post the first chapter of the sequel, and now, just to give you a little sneak peek, the first paragraph (I don't know if I will change anything about it, but if I do it's only grammar):<strong>

_The woman was walking, shoeless and alone, through the shadows. She could feel the wetness under her fingers and the cold temperature was rising the fine hairs in her arms. Nonetheless, she couldn't use friction to warm herself, fearing to lose the contact with the wall in that world of abysm, because, right beside her, the passage ended in an abrupt cliff, surrounded by shadows, with a fatal fall as the only ending._

**So, good bye, and until the next one!**

**Xoxo**

**FreakingOutGirl**

**The End...  
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